Confusion over Tea and Ice
by Adelle-chan
Summary: Hinata confessed to Naruto indirectly, using a genin as a substitute. And before she could explain that he is the one, Tsunade appeared and ruined the scene. The problem: Naruto hired his best ninjas to hunt the genin down. NaruHina Complete
1. The Start

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

**Fandom: **NARUTO by Masashi Kishimoto.

**Summary: **Hinata decided to confess to Naruto indirectly, using a genin as a substitute. The problem: Naruto hired his best ninjas to hunt the guy down. NaruHina.

**Warning: **Occasional OOCness and spoilers. You had been warned.

**Pairings:** Basically, NaruHina with ShikaTema, NejiTen, ChoujiOC, and SakuLeeSasuIno.

**Genre: **Romance/Humor

Well, that ends the legal stuff… Now comes my sincerest apology to all my beloved readers. I just can't work well with plot holes. And I really need to edit the whole fic. If you hate me for this, hunt me for this; kill me for this, then I will die a happy soul knowing you read my fic. Domo Arigatou, minna.

Wanna ask why? Please visit my profile page, then. I don't want to stall anyone because of my ramblings.

**Confusion over Tea and Ice**

**By Adelle-chan**

_A mighty pain to love it is, _

_And 't is a pain that pain to miss; _

_But of all pains, the greatest pain _

_It is to love, but love in vain._

_-Abraham Cowley (1618 - 1667)-_

**Chapter 1**

More stacks of paper that was what he saw. Bulky documents and scrolls that were either sitting comfortably on his table or carefully placed beside it. He estimated about a thousand of trees were sacrificed to make all these papers. Not that he's part of any organization promoting the restoration and care of Mother Nature. Scratch that, he is a part of an organization, something about "Clean and Green Movement" thingy. Though he only joined because Sai, his advisor, forced him (He _is_ the leader of the Hidden Village of _Leaf_) and for him, more logging means more papers means more work.

This was one of the prices to pay to become a Hokage.

When he was younger all he ever wanted was to be loved by his fellow villagers. It was tough, him being the Nine Tails brat, but eventually he earned their respect, the respect to last a lifetime with a bonus of a year worth of paperwork! God bless the person who invented cloning techniques.

At the age of eighteen, he was the Nine Tails brat no more who uses pranks just to express his feelings. He was and _is_ Uzumaki Naruto, RokudaimeHokage-sama.

He couldn't help but mock himself for sounding so gay. But reflecting of the past will not get him anywhere, especially when his work was multiplying arithmetically by the passing and Izumo, who volunteered to help the current Hokage in any way, would be the prime suspects. They were the self-proclaimed Hokage's personal deliverymen.

As if on cue, the two chuunins knocked lightly at the door.

Naruto could feel a headache forming. He couldn't device a better way to torture himself than to spend an entire day ramen_-_deprived, writing at scrolls and reading reports. He discreetly cleared his throat and said in an authoritarian voice, "Enter."

The great oak doors opened revealing two figures each carrying a tower of scrolls and reports. "Rokudaime-sama," they bowed in respect. Naruto was amazed at how they managed to bow so low without letting go of the scrolls.

He straightened at his seat and prepared his speech. "Place them on the chair." He waved a hand at the chair in front of him, sounding every bit of a Hokage he is. With that voice, he immediately added, "The ones near the cabinet are finished. You can deliver them to their proper agencies. The ones on the far-end corner belong to Sai. I want him to sort the laws according to their purposes and have them properly summarized before Friday. Also, call every ninja needed in the preparation for the Peace Treaty scheduled next week. I wish to know how the preparations are proceeding. Arrange the meeting room tomorrow before lunch."

"Yes sir." As gently as they could they placed the reports to where Naruto instructed them to, careful not to push the reports and make them fly away again. Naruto threw a hissy fit that day and it was not a fun experienced. After that they quickly sorted out the files that needed to be delivered.

"By the way, Hokage-sama," Kotetsu spoke all of the sudden.

"Yes?"

"How do you manage to complete your tasks so quickly? It would have taken Tsunade-sama a month to finish what you had accomplished for merely two days."

Naruto chuckled. "Kotetsu-niichan, that is the brilliance of the Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu." The Rokudaime winked at them. The two stared at him with awe. "By the way, thank you for volunteering yourselves to help me with my work. It really means a lot to me." The two smiled shyly, with Izumo hiding the slight reddening of his face with his bangs. When they were done,

"Oh and uh…" He was supposed to say they should bring ramen when they come back again but his cellphone started ringing and cut him off. It read:

From: Granny

Subject: Yo!

To: Bratling

_Hey there, bratling. I'll be visiting today so you better be prepared for it. How are you? How's your love life? Hurry up and give me grandchildren already!_

The Rokudaime literally crushed the phone in his hand with overflowing _chakra_ /8/, making the two volunteers jumped back. The current Hokage throwing a hissy fit was not a good sight. They gawked at the Hokage with fear. Definitely not a good sight.

Meanwhile, Naruto was cursing the former Hokage with all the curses he knew, forming new combinations as well. How dare she? Just because the old lady gave him the title doesn't mean she adopted him and has the right to tell him to get a child. He glanced at his newly-bought-and-just-been-broken cellphone. He really should stick with the old-but-long-lasting ones. Or maybe buy that new one charka-proof one.

"H-Hokage-sama…" That squeak interrupted his daily brooding.

"Yeah?" He looked up from his newly demolished seed of technology and flashed the two chuunin his sincerest smile of gratitude. "Oh! I'm sorry, the old lady texted again. Uh… Prepare for her arrival and when she does, tell her to stop making me want to kill her, and that I won't be getting married soon… or having a baby, for that matter. Heck, I don't even have a girlfriend."

The two appeared to be uncertain for a moment but decided not to comment on that. "Yes, sir."

"Okay, you're dismissed."

Just when they were about to leave, Izumo promptly remembered something very important. "Hokage-sama, there is a special person who is downstairs right now wanting to see you."

"Indeed?" Naruto learned to speak articulately. It's one of the responsibilities of a Hokage. One should never use words of a downtown thug. "And who, perchance, is it?"

"A Hyuuga, sir," Kotetsu clarified. "A certain Hyuuga would like to see you."

"Alone," Izumo added.

Two golden eyebrows furrowed as the Hokage tried to recall that certain Hyuuga wishing to speak to him. Realization dawned to him. "What could possibly Neji wants?" His two subordinates stared at him squarely. "Okay, so it's not Neji. Hiashi-sama then? Does he wish to speak about village matters? He enjoyed it the last time we had it."

If Naruto weren't the Hokage, the two would have flung what they were carrying at him. But they couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't. They respected him that much. "It's his daughter, your Excellency," Izumo said.

"Hanabi?"

However, no matter how much they respected the blond, there are times when they want to give him extra brain cells.

The two looked at each other before Kotetsu finally showed some courage and decided to tell the kid directly. "Hinata would like to see you, Hokage-sama."

"Hinata wants to see me?" The Hokage's eyes sparkle a pretty shade of blue. "I mean… She does. Why wouldn't she, right?" He chuckled to himself then cleared his throat. "Send her in. Immediately. No, wait! Don't send her in just yet. My office is in a disaster. Uhmm…" The Hokage was in a panic.

"We'll send her in after thirty minutes?" Izumo supplied with a big grin.

"Right. Thank you. God bless you. Send her in after thirty minutes," Naruto ordered. "And you're dismissed."

"Yes, sir!" They saluted and left the office, leaving a very panicky Hokage behind.

* * *

"What was that?" Kotetsu asked when they were floors away from the building.

"A very flustered teenager," Izumo replied casually.

"I know that. What I meant was—"

"Why was he, the great Rokudaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto-sama, so flustered?"

"You've read my mind."

"I don't know but whatever it was, I don't want to talk about it. Heaven knows what would become of the Rokudaime once the occurrence of a panicking Hokage reaches the very ears of Tsunade-sama," the chuunin said.

"Though she'd want to know; she'd certainly interrogate us about the Rokudaime's reaction on her message," his companion concluded.

"Yeah. But more importantly…" He nudged the _jounin _to the far end corner of the lobby. "There's our girl."

There stood a pretty young woman of pale skin, midnight-blue hair and pearly eyes inherited deeply from her Hyuuga ancestors. Hyuuga Hinata, the Hyuuga heiress, was _almost_ the perfect image of a young woman blooming into a very fine lady. She would have if she weren't playing with her fingers, habit that she developed at a very young age that showed her nervousness.

"Hyuuga Hinata, the Rokudaime Hokage-sama has accepted your invitation. You are requested at the Hokage Office and to report within precisely thirty minutes, no more, no less," Kotetsu announced dramatically.

"Good luck, Hinata-chan." Izumo wished her good luck. "Why don't you go and get a drink at the cafeteria? Thirty minutes is a long time."

The girl smiled shyly. "Thank you very much." She bowed so low at them so that they would not notice the reddish tint on her cheeks. "I'll be taking my leave now." She quickly marched her way to the Fire Building cafeteria.

"Another flustered teenager," Kotetsu commented at Hinata's retreating back. His partner nodded in agreement. "Kids these days…"

"I know."

Hyuuga Hinata thought this day wouldn't come. The day she'd confess to her life long love about her true feelings. She knew clearly what she was supposed to do. She had this already planned. First, she'd tell a story about her feelings and her fruitless ways of saying it to him, using some guy so that she wouldn't get uncomfortable confessing it to him. Then she'd ask him what, in his opinion, is the best way to confess her true feelings. And when he does, she'll confess.

If he shares them, then she'd be jumping on the rooftops after she faints. If he declines and says their just friends and he would like to continue their relationship as it is, she would leave with a big smile of empathy and a broken heart.

Her heart would be badly scarred by then, but at least the heavy feeling she has kept for more than a decade now would be lifted.

When she told them months ago that she plans to tell the person directly, they were screaming their lungs out at Ino's house. When she told them she doesn't know how, she was sure they wanted to strangle her.

So they come up with this plan—the most direct way out of all the indirect ways of confessing your true feelings.

She just hoped God was listening to her prayers right now.


	2. The Confession

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

* * *

**Chapter II**

"Alright, everybody! I want this place sparkly clean within thirty minutes. You, polish the windows. You, clean the floor. You, stock the papers in the cabinets. You, wipe the table. You, arrange the furniture. Everyone else, do something useful. Move faster. I want this done in twenty minutes. Do I make myself clear?" the Rokudaime commanded his twenty _bunshins_ /1/ efficiently, like a general sending his men to war.

The bunshins were confused on the Rokudaime's ability to address them as 'you'; well in fact they were of the same person. Either way, they nodded and attended to their designated tasks.

What he really liked in Kage Bunshin no Jutsu was multitasking. He could enjoy a steamy serving of Large Portion Pork Miso Ramen while working overtime in his office doing paperwork. He could attend a conference or an assembly while working overtime in his office doing paperwork. Actually, he could practically do anything and everything while working overtime in his office doing paperwork.

"Hey, you! I mean... me. Oh! Who cares! Hold your horses, cloak-wearing other Naruto!" a bunshin called out, for the lack of better term.

Naruto spared him a glance. "Yes?"

"You're not leaving us while we make this place fit for a visiting, right?" Immediately, the other bunshins stopped working and listened to the upcoming argument. "'Coz that's not nice and it's unfair for us. I know... you know... we know that we live, eat, and breathe your chakra but you don't have to enslave us just for that. That's not right."

To their surprise, a smile beamed at the brave bunshin from the original Naruto nonetheless. "For your information, I was about to go to the bathroom and make myself presentable. It's not like you're the ones who'll talk to her. Make refreshments while I pamper myself, will you? And be Hokage while I am gone!" With that, the Hokage slipped quietly out of the room and headed to the nearest male powder room, or so the girls dubbed.

Precisely thirty minutes later, Hinata was sure she could never do the plan. She had spent fifteen minutes pacing at the corridors, ten minutes debating if she should go or not, and five minutes staring at the great oak doors of the Hokage Office. She knew very well how this situation would run. First, take a deep breath, relax, knock, straighten yourself, enter when the door opened, and confess to her life-long love about her true feelings.

It sounds easy to do-her being part of one of the most brave and dignified clan in the whole wide world-and it would have been if only the billions of butterflies decided to take residence in other places than her stomach.

Oh, why was she getting these cowardly attacks again? She's a Hyuuga, for God's sake! All she had to do first was to knock.

So why does she feel like the whole world was crumbling beneath her feet? Oh, whom was she joking? How would the world end with just a simple tap on the wood?

Finally, deciding to throw all her hesitations to the window, she accomplished the boldest mission in her life. She knocked lightly.

A mild shuffling was heard from the other side, followed shortly by the opening of the door. There stood a young man of her age, with unruly blonde hair and blue eyes. Surprisingly, no matter how much he looked like Uzumaki Naruto, Hinata felt that this person was a complete stranger.

"Um…" Before she got a chance to talk, the stranger started speaking.

"It's a about time you've return!" The stranger finally looked at her then. "Who are you?"

"I'm Hinata. Hyuuga Hinata. Is Naruto-kun, I mean… Is the Hokage in there?" she tried hard to sound polite despite her confusion. Knowing Hinata, she didn't have to try very hard though.

"Hinata," the guy said her name while simultaneously remembering who she was. "Oh! You're _that_ girl! Hi, I'm Naruto but I'm not the Hokage."

"Huh?" That statement was weird. The last time she checked, she was sure the Hokage was Naruto. And vice versa.

"Oh, no! I forgot. I'm supposed to be Naruto _and_ the Hokage while he went away," the person berated himself. "Uh… Could you come inside while I go fetch him?" Without another word, the stranger took her by the hand and led her to a chair near the Hokage table that wasn't normally there. "And don't go anywhere. We'll… I mean, I'll… No, that's not right… He! He'll be right back!"

She nodded warily and smiled, but before she could thank the guy properly, he was gone. With a poof.

Strange…

It was not long enough though when the whole office rumbled and rattled under her feet as thunder of hooves resembling to an intensity nine earthquake approached the office. And with a bang, if one may add.

Hinata quickly glanced at the dorrway where the bang sounded. Her heart almost stoped. There stood the man who resembled a lot to the stranger she met earlier, but she was sure that this was not a _stranger, _for standing there panting at the doorway was her problem, her Hokage, and her future husband if fate shall permit.

Uzumaki Naruto.

Said man flashed a boyish smile. "Hello. Sorry, I'm late. It's just that I had a problem with the faucet, which refused to cooperate with me." _'Oh great,'_ Naruto thought. _'What better way to explain why your late than telling the girl about faucet problems. Very impressive, your Excellency.'_

"Were you waiting for a long time?" He quickly straightened himself and sat in full dignity on his revolving chair.

Hinata stood as though the chair electrified her. "N-no…" Somehow, speaking became a very hard task for her. His presence does wonders for her. "I... I just arrived, actually, H-hokage-sama..."

"That's a relief." He smiled though internally he was frowning. Hinata adressing him as 'Hokage-sama' did not sound pleasing to him, much to his surprise. "You can stop calling me Hokage-sama, you know."

"A-alright, R-rokudaime-sama"

"If you insist on calling me by my title, then may I address you as Hyuuga heiress? That would really be fair on my side."

She frowned. "I don't think that sounds right..."

"Then I'll take that as a no." His smile widened. "So _Hinata_, would you honor me by calling me by my name?"

"But that would be a… a sign of disrespect in your authority, wouldn't it?"

"Hardly." Naruto saw he was nowhere in winning this _name war_ with her and so he dropped his ultimate weapon: puppy-dog eyes. "Please, Hinata. _Naruto-kun _/3/ isjust fine."

"O-Okay." She blushed a lovely shade of red before she acquiesced. "Naruto-kun..."

"Good." He smiled again. "Now, why are you standing? A chair is made to be seated on." No response. "You wanted to talk, am I correct? Now, how will I talk to someone if I'm staring up at her? Sit. I won't bite."

When she was seated, he offered her cookies. She declined. "How about a drink?" She nodded at that. He poured her an ice-filled glass.

She took a sip them quickly grimaced at the taste. "Tea over ice?"

"Iced tea. You're supposed to put sugar on it before you drink it or it will taste bad." He placed three sugar cubes on her drink. "I take it that it didn't taste like your cup of tea?"

"Arigatou..." She wasn't used in drinking such concoction although she must admit, it _did_ stated nice. It's just that it was new.

As new as the Hokage's next question.

"So, what did you want to talk about, Hinata?"

She almost choked what she was drinking. Thankfully, her esophagus decided to cough instead.

"Are you okay, Hinata?"

She coughed one last before she set her drink aside. She was sure she'd drop it at any moment. "Y-yes. I'm quite alright." she whispered so softly that Naruto almost didn't catch it. She swallowed hard to gain her composure. _It's now or never._ "I-I... Well... I... wanted to have your suggestion on..."

"On?"

"On…" Her heart started to beat faster.

"On?"

"HowtotellaguyIlikehim?" Hinata looked hopeful.

It was Naruto's turn to choke. Sure, she spoke so fast he barely recognized what she said. But the Hokage was trained to such speeches; he had Sakura to thank. Unlike Hinata's though, his respiratory system wasn't cooperating with him making him cough like there is no tomorrow. _'She wanted to ask him how to tell a guy she likes him,'_ he thought over a fistful of coughs.

"Hokage-sama? Daijoubu?" she asked.

He winced. He wished she lost the title already. "I am... quite... fine." He managed a shaky smile. "You... wanted to ask me how to tell a guy you like... him?"

Hinata quickly looked away. "Yes…"

He didn't know why but suddenly, when she told him that, he felt a twisting in his stomach that was somehow unbearable. He quickly shrugged the nauseating feeling as a probable cause of indigestion. He should have taken Kakashi-sensei's advice that too much iced tea in a day is bad for once health. With that, he replied, "But… Hinata, I'm not a girl. How am I supposed to know?"

She blushed a glorious shade of pink. "Anou… He… he's…" She lowered her head so that he wouldn't see her expression. "You… you see… he's a lot like… like you, Naruto-kun… so I thought you might _understand_ him…" She stole a glance at his eyes only to see two very shocked sapphires.

'_Does she like me? Is there a possibility that the Hyuuga heiress was deeply fond, more than friends, of the Sixth?' _He considered it for a while before his brain concluded: _Nah!'_

"I see… Well, what characteristics do you find… appealing… to him?"

She twiddled her fingers. "Umm… You see… He's… very kind and lively, but he can really be sweet sometimes. He always cheers everyone up… but what I really like about him is that…" Her voice trailed off as she's back to yesterday's world. "He's willing to defend Konoha even though_ he's _only a _genin _."

"Uh huh…" She fell in love with a genin. Although, Naruto has nothing against genins (he was one for a _long_ time), he thought Hinata would have preferred... _better_. Or at least Hiashi-sama would. "Does he know what you feel for him?"

She saddened at that. "I couldn't tell him; I'd just stutter and not make any sense… I tried showing him it to him in countless of ways but he still gets me wrong."

The nauseating feeling intensified in his stomach. What the heck was happening to him? Naruto shrugged it off, this time with a clear of throat. "If that's the case then I think you should try the direct route."

Hinata looked curious. "What's that?"

"Walk up to him, then kiss him. If he is like me then, he'll appreciate a little honesty." With an afterthought, he added, "Unless you have bad breath. Who's the lucky guy, anyway? Perhaps I could give him a hint."

"He… he's…" Her heart beat faster. "He's… He's… umm… His name… is… U-uzu…" Her sentence was cut-off by a big amount of smoke that erupted out of nowhere.

"Hey, there, bratling!" said a very young lady with light blonde hair tied in two pigtails.

"Granny!"

"Tsunade-sama!"

Tsunade didn't seem to mind she just broke the bubble. "What?"


	3. The Henchboys

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

* * *

**Chapter III**

A young man with spiky raven hair, made his way across town followed by two youngsters; one fixing his forehead protector, the other wearing large glasses. The town was in turmoil, though not the bad kind of turmoil. Everybody was busy for the upcoming arrival of the Godaime Kazekage, Gaara-sama and a thousand of his subordinates. Many inns were decorated in their finest, while several cafeterias and restaurants flourished their windows with their own great delicacies. A few townsmen greeted him just fine, a curt nod or a friendly hello. However, others decided to show their utmost disgust of him, giving him death glares and snorts.

Sasuke just acted like it didn't happen. At least they were wise enough to stay put.

"Ne, Sasuke-niisan, there seems to be a celebration in town?" asked the boy near him while fixing his forehead protector.

Sasuke grunted. "That's Sasuke for you, Konohamaru-_kun_ and indeed there is a celebration in town."

Konohamaru scowled. "How come? Is an important person coming?"

"Weren't you listening to Ebisu-sensei?" Udon asked. "_Godaime Kazekage_-sama will be here tomorrow. Everyone's excited. Even Moegi wasn't allowed by her mother to leave home. Mom wanted me to stay at home too so I could help her but Naruto-niisan called us."

"Udon-san, let me just make it clear that _Rokudaime Hokage-sama_ called _me_. And please don't address him so familiarly especially in a public road," the chuunin reprimanded his subordinate. Sasuke remained a chuunin after the Orochimaru issue. He's simply contented of being a middle-class ninja, academy teacher Uchiha Sasuke. He wanted to be a person who will mold those who inherit the "Will of Flame", or so what Naruto called it to be.

"Gomen, Sasuke-senpai."

Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon were still genins. They failed the Chuunin Selection Exam for the 1st time. They vowed to do better a year after, receiving extra training from their Ebisu-sensei and occasionally not busy Sasuke-senpai.

As they reached the Fire Tower, the tallest loooking tower in town with the symbol of Fire just outside it, the male members of the former Team 8 greeted the three.

"Yo! Konohamaru-_kun_, Udon-_chan_, Sasuke-_kohai _!" Konohamaru scowled, Udon frowned and Sasuke smirked at Kiba's honorifics. Old habits shall die hard. He'd make sure of that.

"Good evening, Inuzuka-_senpai_," greeted the three. Oh, how Kiba hated being called senpai especially if such a name was added with his surname. It made him feel older and more mature. The Uchiha prodigy nodded in acquaintance with Shino.

_Inuzuka Kiba, formerly of Team 8. Likes: dog. Hobbies: dog walks. Still acting as though he's boss though he doesn't want to be called senpai. Now taking the Jounin-instructor exam._

_Aburame Shino, formerly of Team 8. Likes: bugs. Hobbies: collecting bugs. Hates: bug repellents. That's all I know. _

A bark sounded from a far, and then appeared a snowy dog with black ends on his ears. Kiba motioned the beast to come near him and it obeyed gleefully. "Akamaru is getting bigger and bigger by the minute. Cute, isn't he?" Akamaru neared Sasuke, who still amazed by his humongous size, the latter rubbing the beast's ears.

_Akamaru. Kiba's dog. Huge._

"Is this the little pup you use to carry?" Sasuke said in a singsong voice, alarmed that the pup is larger than him. Shino patted his back. "When did he grow up to be so tall?"

"Wasn't it yesterday when he was small?" continued by a very sarcastic baritone voice behind them. There stood Hyuuga Neji; with all his supreme handsomeness.

"Hyuuga," Sasuke said icily.

"Uchiha," Neji answered with equal coldness. His gaze wandered to the genins. "And what do you two youngsters doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at home by now?" The tensai /4/ eyed warily at the younger two that clearly read _'Go home or thou shall suffer a wrath of no equal.'_

The two looked like being dragged through a knothole and brought back. They paled. "We wanted to visit Naruto-niisan," Konohamaru replied shakily.

"Oh… Well, he has a meeting with-" he was cut in his mid-sentence by a very lively "Dynamic Entry!". Neji, being Neji, composedly dodged the approaching green. The green twirled about before it safely landed, revealing a bowled-cut, thick browed, bumble bee-eyed, spandex clad Rock Lee.

"Hyuuga Neji! You are truly worthy of being my eternal rival! You keep my flames of youth burning!" Lee was pointing at him.

"-us so you should better go home. Help those who are in need," continued Neji in a very solemn voice.

"Hai!" The two were awed by Neji's remarkable dodging skills and they were off.

Everybody sweat-dropped.

"You were saying something Lee?" inquired a bewildered Neji.

_Hyuuga Neji, formerly of Team Gai. Byakugan master. Taijutsu __tensai. Currently taking an ANBU _/6/ _exam to become an ANBU captain. Likes to train._

The junior green beast clenched his fist and cried anime-tears. "That's why you're beyond doubt my eternal rival!"

_Rock Lee, formerly of Team Gai. Lotus master. Taijutsu expert. Currently Haruno Sakura's boyfriend. Likes to train harder._

"Hey… Sasuke!"

"Why, Kiba?

"Did Sakura-san really choose Lee over you?"

"…"

"Yo, minna-san!" greeted by a slim guy who suddenly appeared behind them.

"Oi, aren't we a little bit booked today?" noted a slimmer guy carrying a plastic bag. "_Mendoukusai _/8/, _na _/9/, Chouji?"

_Nara Shikamaru formerly from Team 10. Shadow-user genius with an IQ over 200. Still lazy and complaining about everything although not at the same level as he was before. He is also a teacher in the Ninja Academy like Sasuke even though he's a jounin._

"Chouji, is it really you?" Kiba started shaking him.

"How does it smell like?"

The dog-man sniffed, then he became teary eyed. "Chouji, you lost weight!"

"Why?" Shino asked an eyebrow. Chouji turned to glare at him. "No offense."

The Akimichi chuckled. "I have a blind date."

_Akimichi Chouji, formerly of team 10. Big guy who at this time lose 200 pounds. On diet._

"Really? When?" queried by Sasuke.

"This coming weekend at the new amusement park!" he answered excitedly. "Of course, you're all not invited. I don't want you guys within a hundred of radius from the site." He turned to Shino. "And that includes your bugs." He turned to Kiba. "And Akamaru." He turned to Sasuke and Shikamaru. "And your students. Don't even try lying like you have a field trip, or you're out taking dog-walks, or you're collecting bugs."

"Oh sure." Everybody started agreeing and lying through their teeth at the same time all the while thinking of brand new ways to follow Chouji on his _blind date_.

"This weekend, huh?" Kiba said thoughtfully. "Well, Chouji! I hope you'll have fun! Especially after the date! Will you be having sexy time after the date? We sure hope so!"

The man in question had every right to blush. "Do you really think so? What if I don't do so great?"

Lee immediately raced to his side, grasping his not so chubby hands to show his support. "You can do it, Chouji! I will support you! You have the passion of her love that fuels the flame of your springtime of youth!"

"Lee-san…"

"Chouji." He lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Lee-san!"

"Chouji!"

"Shikamaru!"

At once, the shadow-caster performed some seals and used _Kage-Mane no Jutsu_ /10/, completely binding his friend to him. Evidently, no one stopped Lee.

"Chouji!"

"Guys! A little help here!" snarled Shikamaru a little to sarcastically.

"Akamaru!" Then, in one brilliant scorching moment, Lee hit the wall. Solidly. The junior beast of Konohagakure kept twisting away from Akamaru, but the dog's size barred his way.

"What do you guys have against the concept of burning springtime of youth, huh?" Lee said angrily, still squirming but to no avail.

"We just want to make sure the both of you didn't make a scene," calmly explained by Shino.

"Say, Sasuke, how about the topic we left off a little while ago..." Kiba continued their disregarded topic.

"Love is a rosary. It's full of mysteries."

Shikamaru released Chouji as Akamaru released Lee. "Don't get too emotional. We are at the Fire building after all. Behave, kay?"

"kay…"

Neji picked something from the floor. The item came out of Shikamaru's plastic bag when he was trying to… ummm… calm Chouji. Idly, he smirked at the cover. "Shikamaru?"

"Hai? What, Neji?"

"What's this?" The Hyuuga slowly raised the piece that made him smirk his trademark smirk.

Everybody went agape, like O.O or U.O agape.

"Icha, Icha Tactics?" Kiba whispered mischievously.

"Hold on! That's not for me!" He watched as Neji threw the book to Sasuke.

"You went into an adult's store, and bought an adult's reading material. We're not even twenty yet," Shino mumbled out loud. "I wonder what Temari has to say about this."

"Oh, I know this book. Kakashi-sensei always brought the orange one along when we were training under his care. So, what's so devastatingly amazing about this book anyway?" The Chidori user flipped the book to a certain page then his eyes widened. "Oh…" He blushed.

Lee patted the strategist's affectionately. "I wish your soul shall reach the heavens and may your cloud bed be soft."

"Gaara-sama will surely kill you," Kiba shook his head in sympathy, noting the Kazekage and at the same time, Temari's younger homicidal brother. "Or Kankurou…"

Sasuke keeps on reading and blushing at a record.

"Sasuke, where are you now? You're as red as Santa Claus' coat," Lee remarked. "Oh, the Introduction! A little intense, ne? It says, "_This book shall tell you (and teach you) how to heighten the passion before - - - - - - -._"

"You read the book already?" Sasuke stared at Lee with a look that resembled to awe.

"No. Gai-sesei only allowed me to read the Introduction. He said such book should not be allowed to corrupt my innocent eyes. I'm still young to be _deflowered before pollination._" The junior green beast of Konohagakure gave him a nice guy pose that completely freaked everyone out.

The bug collector grimaced. "Such language."

"Shikamaru, I didn't know you were… ah… inexperienced," said Chouji, his face a mixture of shock and disgrace.

"Mendoukusai," his best friend mumbled. "Chouji. That's for you."

"Eh…!"

"Well, you are really do seem afraid of you're blind date. So, if things get a little happy and enthusiastic, I thought of buying you this book. And I know you would never ever go to a (cough) club just to get… you know... that kind of adult stuff."

"You decided to buy IIT?" continued Shino who was now leaning against the wall for no specific reasons.

"Yup. They say it has dating suggestions as well so it'd probably be useful for you."

"Shikamaru," Chouji was teary eyed again. "I didn't know you were that concerned."

"That's what friends are for." Shikamaru tried to grab the book from Sasuke. "Sasuke, give it now."

"But I'm not finished yet!" he whined.

"Don't scar your brain any further. Give it to Chouji and be a good boy."

"All right…" The Chidori-user reluctantly gave the book to Chouji.

"Good boy," Shikamaru patted his head. "Don't worry. I'll buy you another one."

"So, what are you guys doing here anyway?" Lee blurted out all of the sudden. "You're not having a grand reunion without Neji and me invited, right?"

"Rokudaime-sama called us. Said it was very important." Kiba answered for their team.

"Mendoukusai. That's what he told us as well," Shikamaru complained.

"It's a matter of life and death," Chouji added.

"That's funny," mentioned Neji. "Hokage-sama said it's an important mission, right, Lee?"

"Hai! I remembered his every word. He said, "Fan the coals to burn the flames of youth and come here! I have a mission for you!"

"…"

They eyed at Sasuke.

The Chidori user sweat-dropped. "Don't look at me. He just told me he has something important to say."

"I see," the shadow-caster deemed. "So if we put it all up, Rokudaime Hokage-sama gathered us all here because he has an important mission for us. A mission of life and death."

"Excellent deduction, Shikamaru. As expected from a genius," a figure suddenly revealed out of the hallway. He sort of looked like Sasuke with the black hair and facial structure, though there was a largeamount of malice in his eyes. "I heard that it was getting rowdy at the lounge. Who would have thought I'd see you guys here?"

"You…" Sasuke's face darkened.

"You know me already, Sasuke-san?"

"Actually, no." Everybody dropped in anime-style. "Have I seen you before?"

One black eyebrow tilted upwards, though only for a split second. "Yes, as a matter of fact. We've met at Orochimaru's camp while I was ordered to kill the traitor of Konoha."

"Oh! You're that shirt-hanging guy." Sasuke prepared himself for a Chidori. "How about we settle the score, right now?" Sasuke's smirk was pure evil. That smirk turned to a scowl however when Shikamaru decided to use his technique on him to cool him off. His body stopped cooperating with him.

"You do not want to fight with each other. Especially not here." Shikamaru reprimanded the two.

"Uchiha, don't fight a person you don't even said the name." Neji warned him. "Sai-sama, please do not threathen his temper control any longer. We do not want blood spilt on such clean floors."

"I do not have temper-control problems, okay? Just let me go. I promise I won't kill him. Just tear a limb?" Sasuke growled, still held by Shikamaru.

Sai smiled brightly. "My, aren't we as blood thirsty as Uchiha Itachi. I guess it runs in the blood, ne?"

On the mention of his older brother's name, Sasuke literally saw red as the Sharingan /14/ eyes showed themselves and their wheels spinning at a dangerous speed.

"Sasuke, Sai-sama is one of Hokage-sama's advisers. Please don't be an ass," Kiba reminded, and whispered oh so silently in the other's ear,"even though he already is one."

"Tch… Fine." Finally, Shikamaru let him go. He bowed reluctantly, his muscles stiff. "I… apologize…" _Teme _/15/

"Apology accepted. You may now raise you're head." There was utmost tenderness in the adviser's voice but when Sasuke looked up, Sai's eyes bore malice that was about to cut him deep.

_'Did Naurto really trust this guy?' _The thought ran in the minds of the two as they studied each other.

"Sai-sama, what are you doing here, anyway?" asked Chouji out of curiosity.

"I came to tell you that Hokage-sama will meet you at the conference room. He asks for your presences there. Immediately."

"Hai."

"Move out."

"Teme!" Sasuke growled in frustration, his onyx eyes burning, as they walk down the hallway.

"He's always like that on first meetings. You'll get along with him, don't worry," Shino replied on the chuunin's reverie.

He clenched fist, turned to glare at Shino. "There is no way I would like that guy!"

Lee draped an arm over his shoulder. "Come to think of it, he is just like you."

"How could you even say that! I thought you were on my side!"

Neji smirked. "You're autocratic, stubborn and would never ask for help for another human being."

"Yeah! So what!"

His friends laughed. "We actually saw you in him."

"What kind of sick joke is that?"

"When you left and lost you're way Sai replaced you as a new member of Team 7. He's a little bit outspoken, rude, frank and has a derange sense of humor, but he could pass as you." Kiba shook his head. "The same age, the same hair, the same physical type- ''

"There is no way he's just like me! Not a single, tiny bit! Besides, I think he's gay."

"Fool yourself to oblivion, then," Neji said coldly.

"Hmmp!"

They arrived at their destination. Kiba lightly tapped the door three times.

"Jounin Inuzuka Kiba, together with my company, permission to enter the conference room sir!"

"Permission granted," replied the voice on the other side of the door.

"Thank you, sir," they chorused. Kiba opened the door carefully, making sure he doesn't create any sound.

They filed up across the large table where the Hokage seated, the back of his chair facing them. "Be seated."

"Thank you, sir," they chorused again. When they were all settled, their superior faced them. They swallowed.

"I want you to capture a man." Uzumaki Naruto, Rokdaime Hokage-sama, looked fit to kill.


	4. The Mission Impossible

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

* * *

**Chapter IV**

"I am giving that neck contraption thirty minutes to live or else, Hyuuga Neji." The order of the current head of the Hyuuga Clan, Hyuuga Hiashi, resonated in Neji's head as he went and _dispose_ the _neck contraption_-also known as radio that ninjas used in missions- as far as he could. Hell hath no fury than a Hyuuga Hiashi scorned. Actually, he hid it securely in his room where he could have privacy while listening to the current findings of their mission but knowing the prowess of the Byakugan, the seed of technology was soon found by the Hyuuga head himself. And so, he had to explain that the Hokage assigned him for a very special mission.

Their mission, that is, to locate and capture a certain person we shall hide in the name of _Anonymous Genin # 1683_.

Neji didn't give out the details. That is a sign of unprofessionalism, and the Hyuugas are the epitomes of the exact opposite. Hiashi-sama understood that and did not asked for anymore questions. A simple "Hokage-assigned mission" was enough.

At first, Neji really wanted to say that the mission is stupid, and that he has no intention of finding who Hinata-sama's _new love_ is. Served the Hokage right for not noticing Hinata-sama's feelings until it was too late. However, the Hokage showed no sign that he figured that part yet. In fact, it seemed like the Hokage still doesn't know Hinata's true feelings. Talk about density.

However, when the Hokage looked straight at him in the eyes and said, "I need your help," all his _serves-you-right-you-bastard_ feeling were completely washed away and he felt himself agreeing to the mission. Such a tensai he is.

There was a slight noise in the the earphone connected to the radio before the voice sounded, _"Agent Tensai. Agent Tensai, this is Agent Slim. Do you copy, over?"_

In this mission, they had to use codenames of their preference. That is through the order of their leader, Supreme Intelligence (Shikamaru), that they should remain unknown as much as possible for poison ivies guarded the very existance of Snow White (Hinata). They were split into groups of two; Agent Nice-Guy (Lee) and Agent Hetachonchires (Sasuke) were assigned to get the list of names of the people Snow White had encountered within the last two months; Agent Shades (i.e. Shino), Agent Loveless (Kiba), and Agent Red (Akamaru) were assigned to interrogate the persons Agents Nice-Guy and Sensei reported; whilst Agent Tensai (Neji) and Agent Slim (Chouji) were to observed Snow White for any sign of an _Anonymous Genin # 1683_.

"Copy here, Agent Slim. What is your status?"

_"Currently in the park, Agent Tensai. Target has come in contact with a female acquaintance."_

"Acquiantance?"

_"Yes. We shall refer this female acquiantance as Kunai_.

* * *

"Something wrong, Hinata? You seem to be uncomfortable," Tenten blurted out all of the sudden. They were peacefully seated at a bench near the fountain, when Hinata suddenly paled.

Hinata, being Hinata, didn't want to worry her cousin's teammate so she decided to lie. "O-ofcourse… I-I'm f-fine-"

The weapon mistress held up her hand, signaling for her companion to stop. "You're not good at lying," she pointed out in an affectionate way. "And they're beginning to bother me as well. But let's keep the pretense for a while, 'kay? A certain tensai seems to enjoy this game so well."

"Al… Alr-right…"

"_Agent Tensai, Kunai Buns just said you're name."_

"Calm down. She won't kill you, Chouji. I mean, Agent Slim."

"_What if she throws a kunai at me? She's already playing with one."_

"Right or left?"

"_Left."_

"It means, 'You're annoying. Give us some time alone," Neji replied, on the look-out for possible spies in the Hyuuga Compound that Kunai Buns persuaded to become her accomplices. Unfortunately, he found none. "If she changes it to the right ran as fast as you can."

"_Why?"_

"It would mean, 'I'll crush you' so be prepared. She can be _very_ blood thirsty."

"_Why am I in this position, again?"_

He sighed. "Snow White issued a meeting with Kunai Buns yesterday afternoon. She'll know for sure we're conducting a mission if _I_ get closer to her. Please oblige."

"_Umm… Agent Tensai?"_

"Yes, Agent Slim?"

"_She's now wagging the kunai close to her bun. Same hand."_

Neji smirked. "It means, 'I won't kill you. You're not Hyuuga Neji.' Relax, you'll make it to your date."

"You know, you're right. I can't stand it anymore," Tenten whispered to the Hyuuga heiress. She glared daggers of death, doom, and destruction at Chouji who was pathetically trying to hide behind the tree right in front of them. '_Idiot._'

"How about on the phone?" Hinata suggested.

The brunette thought about it for a moment, considering the possibilities of privacy and also the hazards. '_They've tap-wired it; that's for sure._' "How about we meet at the town square? There are many people there. We'll lose them."

"No… We can't talk properly there… Everyone would be screaming… And," she added in a softer voice, "surely the others would be there as well. They might hear us."

"You're right, but there's a big chance they have tap-wired your phone…" She shrugged. "Well, I guess I have no choice…" Tenten then struck the wooden bench with the kunai she had been flipping. It buried to the hilt.

"_Agent Tensai, Kunai Buns just stabbed the bench with a kunai and I believe my life is in danger."_

"Run, Agent Slim, as far as you can."

"I just love privacy, don't you?" Tenten exclaimed in victory. "So Hinata, what do you want to tell me again?"

This is Tenten, her Neji-niisan's former teammate, sparring-partner, rice cooker, personal advisor and lots more. She is now a jounin and contented of being one. Although they were not on the same team anymore, they still see each other during day off's. If there were anyone Hinata could trust in keeping her secrets that would be her cousin's bubbly female-fatale.

So it wasn't hard when she said, "I just told Rokudaime-sama that I like him…" together with the glorious details of that almost wonderful afternoon with her one love.

"Wow," Tenten concluded. "Wait a minute. How am I supposed to help you if I haven't been in your position? _I_ don't _have_ a _love life_."

Hinata blushed. "Anou… Anou… Neji-niisan said that… you give excellent advice."

"He did?" she asked disbelievingly.

"And that you always help him… always there to… umm… cheer him up when he's down…"

"He did?" Her brown eyes softened.

Hinata nodded though she was not looking at her companion.

"Wow!" Tenten shook her head, her mind fabricating the fact that her anti-social, stoic, unsmiling, former teammate Hyuuga Neji said that to his cousin. _Wait a minute! What if Hinata's fooling me to help her?_ She glanced at the Hyuuga heiress warily who has now blushing furiously. _Nah! She can't be that. She wouldn't lie to get what she wants._

Tenten cleared her throat, now with renewed vigor. "So the guy told you to walk up to him and kiss him." She glanced at Hinata and saw that the timid girl's cheecks were tainted red. "I take it you can't."

Hinata could only but nod.

"Well, if it really bothers you so much, the last choice would be to tell it to him."

"Eh?" Hinata raised her head hastily. "I already told him."

"What I meant was, tell him you love him. Not Rokudaime Hokage-sama, Genin-person or whatever you'll call him. Tell him you love Uzumaki Naruto; the only person who you loved through all these years even though he _was _a pea-brained, untalented _but_ hardworking… genin."

Hinata's pearly white eyes shined with awe.

Neji sneezed for the fourth time. He was granted permission to leave the Hyuuga Compound provided that he will never bring the _neck contraption_ within fifty radius of the estate. Neji agreed. He never liked technolog that much. Hyuugas are a little old-fashioned and would stick on the traditional equipments.

"You okay, Tensai?" Shikamaru asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Neji assured his companions. He and Agent Slim returned to the base (some part of the Fire Country Territory) and reported their-or Chouji's, for that matter-immediate retreat from their assignment. Snow White's accomplice had just shown signs of murder mode and the boys were not ready to lose a comrade yet.

He sneezed again. "Must be the weather." His opaque eyes wandered freely across the apparatus Shikamaru was working on. The genius called it "computer" and he was now looking at the 'monitor' projecting an image of Loveless and Shades interrogating a guy to a bloody pulp.

* * *

"Still no answer?" Shades asked over his shoulder. They were currently _interrogating_ a _genin_ who _visited _Hyuuga Hinata. Actually, he just went to the Hyuuga compound to deliver ramen but the boys got paranoid and _interrogated him_. The poor genin was bleeding badly, chained to the wall while Loveless was sitting in front him.

Loveless looked at him tiredly. "He keeps on repeating and repeating that- ''

"I only went to Hinata-sama to deliver the ramen!" Loveless kicked him.

"Don't interrupt!" Loveless glared. "He said he only went to Hinata-chan to deliver ramen."

"I see," said thoughtfully by Shades. "Red, bite him." The familiar did as he was bid and went to the poor guy. "Pardon but we don't buy that crap."

"But it's the truth!" He screamed as Red got closer to him and lightly bit his leg.

Loveless looked annoyed. "She smiled at you, man! When you were giving the _ramen_, she _smiled _at _you_!" he bellowed. "Do you deny it?"

"But I-!"

"Do you?" Then he started shaking the poor guy.

"I was-!"

"Don't shout at him and answer the question. I tell you, Agent Loveless is being kind to you," Shades said in an icy low voice. "Or do you prefer my method instead? "

The genin looked crazy enough to cry. "No, sir."

"Therefore, did she or did she not _smiled _at_ you_?"

He gulped. "She did."

"You see?" Loveless directed the question to Shades. "He _admits _it." He punched the poor individual. "Liar. You told us nothing was going on."

"SHE JUST SMILED! SHE JUST SMILED AT ME! WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG?" The genin wailed like a wounded calf. "I JUST WANTED TO BE A PART-TIMER! I JUST WANTED TO BE PART OF ICHIRAKU! IS IT A SIN?"

The two jounin glanced at each other and grudgingly nodded in defeat. Shades picked up the phone from his pocket whilst Loveless went to comfort the guy.

His hand wandered to his kunai holster and pulled out a vial containing green unknown liquid. He performed a handful of seals and showered the guy with the contents of the vial. "May you're soul reach heaven and cloud bed is soft." The guy paled. Loveless grinned. "Actually, it's a forgetting potion we got from granny. You won't remember anything that ever happened in this room in just a," he snapped his fingers and the guy instantly fell down, "snap."

"Supreme Intelligence, this is Shades and Loveless reporting." Red started rubbing his head on the back of Shades' legs. "And Red." The dog barked happily, hearing his code name. "The guy's innocent, again. Yes… troublesome. So, did Nice-Guy and Hetachonchires find anything? Not yet? That's bad. What about Tensai's and Slim's assignment? Immediate retreat due to Kunai Buns? Oh, Tenten's with Snow White."

"That's mission impossible for Tensai if Tenten's with Hinata," Kiba commented while treating the genin's wounds with another medicine. "No offense, Tensai!"

"Wait," Shino just remembered something. "Supreme Intelligence, aren't you supposed to be at the parade? Isn't Desert Lily (i.e. Temari) going to kill you?"

"Ohh! That's bad," Kiba mumbled under his breath.

"_Troublesome! Chouji take over!"_

"_How do you use this 'thing'?"_

That was the last thing they heard from the cellphone.

"Temari, your boyfriend is not here," Kankurou reminded her again, for the one thousand eighty-ninth time, frantically searching the equally frantic crowd. As if she didn't know he's not around?

"He is not my boyfriend. I repeat, he is not my boyfriend!" The desert lily whispered vehemently to her annoying brother. Still she scanned the crowd, hoping to see a pineapple head guy. _'What's taking him too long?'_

"Are you distracted?" Gaara asked her from the front seat.

"Of course not, Gaara-sama," she assured her youngest brother. "Merely… perplexed… because normally _Ino_ would be dragging him across town just to see the parade."

"He might be on a mission," the redhead presumed.

"That's impossible!" she said acidly. "That guy is the laziest ninja I had ever known! I had to force him to take the Jounin Selection Exam just so he could raise himself one level! He's so… so…"

"Troublesome?" Gaara assumed in a calm voice.

"Yeah!" Damn it, she was so angry she could deforest Konoha.

"Temari, may I remind you that no matter how troublesome it is you should not raise your voice in the Kazekage's presence," the puppet-master sweetly reminded his sister.

Temari froze. "Right. Pardon me, Kazekage-sama."

The man in question eyed at her. " It's absurd, this thing you call love."

"I, Rokudaime Hokage-sama, greatly acknowledge your presence and hope to tighten our ties with your country," avowed the blonde who was pacing around the room. Why did he felt so tense all of a sudden?

His cellphone rang. "Hello? Oi, Shikamaru, any news? None…" He sighed. "Yeah… I know. Troublesome. What? Desert Lilly? Oh, you mean Temari! No, they're not here yet. What? Calm down, I can't understand you. Ohh… She'll tear you alive… Well, I'll back you up. Yeah, I'll back you up. What I meant was, I'll do something about it. Don't worry!"

"_You better make sure of it!" _The call ended.

A knock sounded at the door. "Hokage-sama?" The voice came from Sai.

"Yes?"

"The Kazekage coach is fast approaching."

He straightened his coat and arranged his hat. "I'll be out shortly."

* * *

"Troublesome," Supreme Intelligence muttered under his breath.

Tensai looked at him out of the corner of his eye. "What did he say?"

"That he'll back me up. This is troublesome. Troublesome!" The strategist kicked a log, hard. The innocent log dropped to Slim's side. "She'll tear me apart."

"S. I., calm down," said his friend over the monitor. "Rokudaime-sama already said he'd help you."

"That's what I'm worried about!" he snarled and seated himself on the cooling grass. He went meditating, tips of his fingers connected to form a plan.

Tensai stared at the turmoil and smirked. He leaned further against the tree.

After a minute, Supreme Intelligence finally spoke up,"Slim?"

"Ye, S.I.?"

"Contact Hetachonchires, Loveless, Nice-Guy, Red, and Shades. I need them here. Pronto," Shikamaru ordered.

"Yes, sir."

"I may not like it, but we have to use our last resort."

* * *

Hetachonchires - It supposed to be a Greek character that I find hard to pronounce. Found it from POT's Fuji Syuusuke's new counter, _The Gate Keeper of Hetachonchires_. Never really fond of Greek, though.


	5. The Mission Impossible II

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

* * *

**Chapter V **

It has been an hour since Shikamaru called them, sixty minutes since he was typing something in the computer, and three thousand six hundred seconds since the men were patiently waiting for the plan to come up. As a group of people who were bored, the boys were chatting merrily about the mission…

"Man!" Kiba stretched. "All those genins are a waste of time! I'm so beat!"

"That's an understatement," commented Lee. "Shikamaru assigned us to get the names of the people Hinata-chan spent time with for the last couple of months and, at the same time, search for Mr. 1683."

"At least you weren't assigned to follow her," Chouji blurted out, obviously hurt from Kiba's and Lee's statements.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "What's so good about being chased by the whole Konoha while looking for Mr. 1683?" He sighed and picked something from his kunai holster. The Uchiha stared at the green liquid light-heartedly. "It's a good thing we got this from granny or else the Konoha General Hospital would be profiting because of me… _again_." He gave emphasis to the last word, remembering the last time he visited the hospital. It was when a group of men confronted him. They made it quite clear that they don't want _a traitor in Konoha_. The result: a whole month-pay for sevnm individuals courtesy of Uchiha Sasuke.

Typical.

Lee got the point and nodded. He looked over to Neji who was quietly leaning against a nearby tree. "What happened to your mission, Neji?"

The Byakugan master stilled, averted his eyes. "Tenten was with Hinata-sama."

That alone made Lee silent and the men looked skeptical.

"Why are you so afraid of her?" Kiba asked curiously.

Shino cleared his throat. "As far as I know, Tenten is kind, always smiling and helpful to others."

Chouji looked mortified. "You say that because you weren't there. Tenten is scarier than Temari."

"Temari is not scary. She's homicidal," Shikamaru corrected behind the monitor.

"Okay. I rephrase. Tenten is scary especially if she's at the verge of anger," Chouji spoke timidly, secretly looking at Hyuuga Neji who was smirking.

"How so?" Sasuke asked out of curiosity.

"She plays with her kunai with her right hand for one moment. Then she started wagging it near one of her buns. After a while she struck the bench she was seating on with the kunai."

"Ummm… I don't see the point here," Sasuke replied weakly.

"The kunai embedded to the hilt."

Silence.

Lee laughed merrily. "That's all? Pardon _moi, _but that's nothing compared to the death threats we, Neji and I, received from her. Every time I do my "my rules" she starts drumming the nearest tree, which meant: I'll pin you if you don't stop. Right, Neji?"

The Byakugan master nodded, remembering. "You paid no heed to her that's why you got pinned. As I recall, you were almost dissected alive."

The taijutsu expert chuckled nervously. "But she wouldn't do that unless she's pretty angry…"

"Yah, pretty and angry," commented Kiba. Akamaru barked happily at his master. "That's right, Akamaru! She's even prettier when she's smiling."

Neji was startled by the given comment while Lee grinned at Kiba.

"She appeared more feminine when she wore sleeves," Shino added.

Chouji decided to join in. "I wonder what she looks like without her buns…"

Before Neji could bark a reply for the two, Sasuke spoke, "Do you think she'll consider repopulating the Uchiha Clan with me?"

The Hyuuga scoffed. "You don't fit the list."

"What list?"

"Her Ideal Guy List," Lee answered for Neji. "You have to be older than her by a year or younger than her by at least 3 months, prefer taijutsu than ninjutsu and genjutsu, taller than her by an inch, blah, blah... That sort of list."

"Why is she still single then?" Kiba asked, eyeing at Neji. "I know a _certain guy_ who fits her description…"

"She said, 'Love will find me.'" quoted Lee.

Neji cleared his throat, seemingly oblivious of the change of topic. "Weren't we supposed to discuss about the mission other than TenTen?"

"Why, Neji. You sound too annoyed," the bug collector remarked. "Do you have any special relationship with her?"

"Such as?"

"Is she your _girlfriend_?" Kiba teased.

"Yes," the Hyuuga answered plainly. Deprived from any emotion, his voice was. Seeing his comrades' expressions, which range from utter shock to pure happiness, he carefully added, "I mean, she's biologically a girl and technically a friend but she's not _legally _my girlfriend."

"Oooh…"

"So nothing is going on…" whispered the shadow-caster behind the computer. Shikamaru grinned, as though a boy receiving what he wanted in life, and typed something.

Neji eyed at him before uttering, "Yes, nothing is going on." Obviously Shikamaru is up to something.

"Alright!" Kiba howled. "Now that the Hyuuga has pronounce that nothing is going on between them, I can finally pursue courting Ten-'' a shuriken whirled pass the dog trainer- as in 1 cm away-and embedded itself to the nearest tree.

"So nothing is really happening?" Chouji stared absent-mindedly at the shuriken thrown none other than Hyuuga Neji.

"Absolutely," confirmed Neji, glaring at Kiba, his mouth set in a thin line.

'_Geez, they're not even together yet and he's already that protective.'_ Kiba thought. He inwardly snickered.

"Okay. Break time's over and let's get started," Shikamaru ordered, who suddenly appeared behind Kiba. Everybody gaped at him before they nodded.

"As we all know, Rokudaime Hokage-sama assigned us to search, locate and capture the guy Hinata-chan fell in love with. Our client gave us sufficient details about his man. However, his whereabouts are unknown and so is his physical appearance. Now, let me make it clear, that no matter how unreasonable it is or how troublesome it is we must complete this mission. Any questions? None… Good. Now we move to the plan I've conducted." His eyes darkened. "Data gathering."

The boys blanched. Lee courageously raised his hand.

"Yes, Lee?"

"With all due respect, Shikamaru, I didn't know you do sidelines for Jiraiya-sama! What's data gathering got to do with our mission?"

Shikamaru sweat-dropped. "You're talking about the data gathering I'm talking about, right?"

"You mean peeking?"

"No!" Shikamaru exclaimed. "Data gathering! Looking for clues!"

"…"

"Finding some info useful?"

"…"

He sighed in exasperation. "Talking to girlfriends about their friend's love-life."

"Oh…" They brightened for one moment. Then the thought registered to their brain cells.

"What the what?" hollered Kiba.

Sasuke grabbed the strategist shirt and shook him fiercely. "That's more unreasonable than the mission! Can't you think of anything else?"

"My love life with Sakura-chan is more important than Hinata-san's," cried Lee.

"Cut it out!" Shino screamed. Instantly, Sasuke released Shikamaru.

"Shikamaru," Neji called his attention.

"Yes, Neji?" Shikamaru tried to straighten himself up.

"Shino, Chouji and I are single…"

The shadow-caster clenched fists, for the lack of better term. "DON'T YOU THINK I ALREADY KNOW THAT? I HAVE A PLAN, DAMN IT! Now be seated!"

They followed.

The strategist took deep breaths to calm himself. '_Thou shall not do unto others what you do not want to be done unto you.'_ He briefly imagined a certain female sand-nin's voice. With restrained violence, he turned the monitor to face the general public.

It read "**M**izu**S**una **Chakrapoint**". He did something with the mouse and the image transformed into a slide show. The first slide reads, "Anonymous Genin # 1683".

Shikamaru arranged himself before uttering, "Our mission is to hunt down Anonymous Konoha Genin # 1683. What do we know about him?" He pressed the enter button and the slide changed. "Anonymous Konoha Genin # 1683. Name: Uzu. Age: unknown. Rank: Genin. Physical Features: not stated. According to Hinata-chan, Mr. 1683 is kind, lively, caring, and always cheers everyone up. He's willing to defend Konoha and is very much like the Rokudaime."

He pressed the button again. This time, the slide showed a list. "Here is a list of the people Hinata spend time with for the last couple of months."

'_So that's why he wanted to get those names,' _Sasuke thought.

"As we all know, Kiba, Shino and Akamaru were assigned to interrogate the male, particularly genins. Unfortunately, he is not one of them. So to make it short, we move to another plan." He clicked the mouse.

"Data gathering." A new list appeared, one shorter than the other, mainly because only 4 people are listed.

"Here are Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura, Tsunade-sama and Tenten respectively. Our objective is simple; find out what they know about Mr. 1683 based on their conversations with Hinata. That is why I assigned four men of our team to acquire the information we need from these four creatures. Am I making myself clear?" The men reluctantly nodded. He clicked the mouse. A picture of Ino appeared.

"For Yamanaka Ino…" Pause. "Rock Lee."

"Nani? Demo, Shikamaru, why not Sakura-chan? She's my girlfriend after all," complained the taijutsu expert.

"True, true… But I think that the two of you would rather talk about your relationship than Hinata's. Besides, you were complaining a while ago that your previous assignment was an understatement," Shikamaru pointed out. "Isn't Mission: Ino a challenging one?"

"…"

Their strategist continued. "For Haruno Sakura… Uchiha Sasuke."

The Uchiha stared at him squarely.

"Nani!" Lee exclaimed. "But Shikamaru! Sasuke-kun is Sakura-chan's first love!"

"So?" Shikamaru seems to be uninterested.

"First love never dies!"

"_True love_ never dies," he justified. "Lee, if you love a person, set her free. If she comes back, she's yours. If she didn't, then she never truly _was_."

Lee was momentarily taken back. 'When did Shikamaru became so poetic?'

"Next we go to Tsunade-sama." He paused. "My choice is Chouji."

"I understand, Shikamaru… Any piece of advice?"

"Don't take any snacks, chips or anything that is processed or cancerous. Keep your voice down and show her respect. Don't talk about your date or you'll be fed up with wedding planning. I recommend that you bring sake."

"Okay…" Chouji mentally listed down the notes.

"Gambatte, Chouji." Shikamaru wished his friend good luck. "Finally, for Tenten…" drums… "Hyuuga Neji!"

Neji gave him an are-you-trying-to-match-make-me-with-TenTen-_again_ eye.

Shikamaru smiled innocently at him. He continued, "Kiba, Shino and Akamaru will assist me while you poor- I mean- four men went on with your duties."

The remaining three stared blankly at him.

Shikamaru just winked. With that, he clicked close the dialog box and shut down the computer. "We'll meet here exactly before nightfall. Wear your radios as discreetly as possible. Meeting adjourned."

* * *

"My dear friends, we commemorate today the…" the minister continued in front of the Konoha population. Normally, they were gathered here for the inauguration of their new Kage. Today, however was not normal because the Kazekage and the Hokage were seating side-by-side listening to the speech for the last hour.

'_Why did Kages even bother with peace treaties if they had to listen to this speech?_' Rokudaime Hokage thought as he sighed in vain. It had only been an hour but he felt as though he had been listening for a whole day! He was, beyond doubt, completely bored. He quickly glanced at Sai who was smiling. He didn't look bored but he could feel his advisor's urge to run away. Naruto tried to contain his laughter but to no avail. He erupted into a fit of giggles instead.

He glanced over to the Sand. Kankurou yawned while Temari stared blankly at the microphone with murderous eyes. Godaime Kazekage-sama was the only one who seemed to be wide-awake. In fact, he was staring at the minister with the coldest eyes Naruto has ever seen. Apparently, the Kazekage is itching to form a seal and crush the poor old man.

'_Better do something.'_

"Peace is not something to given freely but-"

"Minister," the blonde interrupted. All heads turned to his direction but the Hokage appeared to be oblivious by them. "We would like to sign the contract…"

"Now," Gaara menacingly added.

The ministered sweat-dropped. "Very well… If that is your Excellencies request then-"

"We're not requesting. We're commanding," Naruto clarified.

The old man swallowed a big lump in his throat. "Scrolls." Instantly two scrolls appeared in front of him: one bearing the Fire Country seal, the other with the Wind Country's. "Sign at the bottom part."

The two nodded and scribbled their names.

"U… zu… ma… ki… Na… ru-to!" The Hokage mumbled under his breath.

"Sabaku no…Gaara."

"Done!" The Hokage exclaimed. He handed the pen. The Kazekage followed the suit.

They shook hands.

"I, Rokudaime Hokage, greatly acknowledge your presence and hope to tighten our ties with your country."

"For and behalf of the Wind Country, I, Godaime Kazekage, forge my trust with yours in about two hundred years or so," narrated Gaara.

"Same here!" Naruto grinned at him. "I hope you visit our famous stall, Ichiraku Ramen House! The delicacies there are great!"

Gaara nodded. "What do we do next?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Naruto whispered back.

"You exchange scrolls, your Excellencies," Kankurou whispered the answer.

They did what they were told to do.

"With the power vested in me, I end this ceremony," said the minister.

"Well, it I think it's time for the pictures," declared the Hokage.

* * *

"You completely missed the ceremony," Hyuuga Hiashi said sternly over his shoulder. The victim of his rage: Hyuuga Hinata. It was a normal routine, him being the clan head, to reprimand his daughter in the midst of their clansmen. Still, the feeling of regret penetrated on him. Especialy today on the date of his deceased wife's birth.

"I'm sorry, Father…" Hinata mumbled, trying to catch her breath. She ran a mile to get there only to miss the ceremony? She just wished her father was not disappointed at her as she was to herself.

"I thought you have changed. You disappoint me, Hinata." She flinched. Thankfully, her head was bowed down so her father wouldn't she her facial expression.

"When are you going to take the ANBU exam? As I have heard, your former teammates are very successful jounins now. Far from your level. Neji's already an ANBU."

Her father could try as much as to slap her and not hurt so much. "As soon as possible… Otou-sama."

"Hanabi's already a chuunin. I expect much greater results from you."

Hinata tried to stop the tears from escaping from her eyes. _Why can't Otou-sama be proud of me? _"Hai… Otou-sama…"

"You are dismissed," She nodded and turned, eyes closed. As she passed by, she wished she couldn't hear the whispers that surrounded her. But she could and it was almost unbearable.

"_She is definitely not like her sister."_

"_If Neji was born in the main family, we would have a greater future ahead of us."_

"_Hmmp! First-born spoiled heiress."_

She took a deep breath before walking stiffly, away from the gossiping crowd.

"KONOHAGAKURE!"

_'Naruto-kun…' _She whirled about and looked up. Sure enough, the blonde was dangerously standing on the brass railing, waving the scroll he's holding gleefully at them.

"THE PEACE TREATY IS A SUCCESS! WE ARE AT PEACE WITH THE WIND COUNTRY! ITSN'T IT GRE-eh…ehe… Ahhh!" And his voice was cut off. Why? He accidentally slipped and was now falling from the _very high _Hokage monument.


	6. The Fall of the Rokudaime

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

* * *

**Chapter VI**

"A broken arm and some minor bruising. Thankfully your neck wasn't broken, _Hokage-sama_," Godaime Hokage-sama, Tsunade-_hime_ informed the blond.

Naruto laughed nervously. "My foot kinda slipped off the railing, Tsunade-baasan…"

"Is that so?" The former San-nin appeared to be unimpressed. "You're lucky Kazekage-sama was around. That 'Desert Hand Technique' sure did save you."

The Rokudaime continued to laugh, scratching his head at the same time. "Yah! I overheard some of the nurses say that I fell _seventy feet_ above the ground."

"I see. And did you overheard that it was supposed to be a _hundred and fifty_?" she questioned his consistency.

"Really? It was that high?" He laughed out loud. Naruto thanked the day Gaara was saved from death.

The medic-nin sighed and pressed on, "Rokudaime-"

"I appreciate it if you wouldn't add the title, baachan…" the younger blond snorted.

"Alright, _Naruto_." The older woman gave emphasis to his name. "I, as the Godaime Hokage, am requesting you to stop acting like an idiot in front of the general public. I did not give up my title just so you could throw your life so easily-" she was cut off.

"I would never do that, Tsunade-baasan. You know me better," he said reassuringly.

"Well, I don't know you any better if you deliberately slip on the railing!" she retorted.

He flinched. "How did you know?"

"I'm a medic-nin, remember?" she replied with much sarcasm.

"You are?" he asked inoffensively and earned a pinch. "Okay! Fine! You are!"

After a while she asked. "So?"

"So what?" he asked back.

"Why did you _accidentally_ slip off the railing?"

He smiled a gentle smile at that and stared out of the window. The sky was blue. "I wanted to have her smile if I can't have her heart."

* * *

For the first time since his fight with Gaara, Rock Lee experienced terror. Silently, he read the sign up ahead: Yamanaka Flower. The taijutsu expert swallowed a big lump in his throat. This is it. This is what he came for so why did several butterflies have taken residence in his stomach?

'_Ah… butterflies_,' he thought wishfully. Just thinking of those delicate winged creatures made him think of his Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan, running across the meadows of flowers to him, arms wide open. But though the body was clad in green jumpsuit, it was not his hair, his eyes and definitely not his eyebrows that he saw.

It was Uchiha Sasuke's.

No! His Sakura-chan would never betray him! She's too faithful and loving to replace him for Sasuke-kun! The images in his mind though were so _intimately _close.

"_Sakura-chan, will you leave Lee for me?"_

"_Of course not!" _Lee sighed with relief. "

"No! SAKURA-CHAN IS MINE!" screamed Lee.

"Lee-san?" A soft feminine voice whispered behind him. He whirled about to see the intruder of his daydreams. It was none other than Yamanaka Ino, sprinkler in hand, wearing an apron.

"So what are you doing here?" Ino said to Lee over her shoulder. She was watering some plants: irises to be exact. Their violet petals glowed healthily under the rain of fresh liquid.

Lee, on the other hand, was studying the arrays of roses. Every color, every variety was there but the one, which he studied for the long time, was the white one. It's the purity that awestruck him calming his raging mind. The knowledge of Sasuke being assigned to get information from his Sakura-chan scared the nuts inside him. He knew he shouldn't be angry, or even jealous, but he's only human. He is prone to such things, such as be absent-minded when a girl is talking to you.

A light tap on his shoulder woke him from his reverie. He quickly looked over his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Umm… Yeah. I was just studying the ah… um…" he lost words.

She looked around him. "White roses," she said. "One of the oldest varieties, very common during Whites' day. Do you want to buy one?"

He shook his head. "Thanks, but I'm not here to buy flowers."

She sighed in dismay. It was hard to be in one room with a person who refused to speak with you. The blond wracked her brain to find something to talk about. "Did you know that Rokudaime-sama had an accident this morning?"

Lee snapped his head, gaining attention. "Really? How?"

She frowned. "Um… I really don't know how. You see after the ceremony there was the pictorial. Then after the pictorial, Jiraiya-sama came and…"

* * *

"_Ero-senin!" The Sixth exclaimed, staring at the jovial face aged by mischief and experience._

_The older man grimaced at the nickname. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that in public?" _

"_Don't get too proper in public, Ero-sennin!" The Sixth brushed the topic aside. "So what good wind drove you here?"_

"_Uh?" the older man's face suddenly turned serious. "Well, you see, I traveled far but to no avail. I could not find the inspiration in creating it…"_

"_It?" One golden eyebrow arched._

"_Yes, my ultimate creation!" he promoted. "A thing so cool, so powerful would end up a man's life!"_

_Everyone was amazed except the Sixth._

"_Hmm… Could it be… the fourth installment of your book?" The Hokage presumed. _

"_Shhh!" The san-nin covered his mouth and whispered to his ear, "Don't talk too loud… It's a secret."_

"_Mphh… Mphh mpmph mpph…" Two sapphires glared at him._

"_Huh?" The younger took the hand from his mouth._

"_Man… you never change…"_

_Jiraiya grinned at his former apprentice. "You want to read the first chapter?" He rummaged his pocket and produced a small thick blue book._

_Naruto took the book, eyeing at it before opening it. He gasped._

"_A little too intense for the Rokudaime Hokage-sama? It's only the first sentence, Rokudaime-sama."_

"_Ero-senin…" his voice trailed off. "It's empty." _

"_Eh?" The older man took the book back and scanned the pages. "NO! I must have left it on that bar!" With that, he ran away leaving a giggling Naruto behind._

"_He didn't even noticed that I used a jutsu on that book…" He chuckled. "Yamanaka! Fall out. Follow that perverted hermit for me please."_

"_Yes, sir." The blond disappeared._

"_Naruto…" Gaara called out to him._

"_Hmm?"_

_The red-haired threw out a telescope. "Your master left this."

* * *

_

"After that he stood at the railing and well… proclaimed that the peace treaty was a success. Unfortunately, he slipped and fell off the Hokage building," she continued her tale.

"He slipped?"

She nodded. "Good thing Gaara-sama was there! He used his Desert Hand Technique and saved our Kage!"

Lee sighed with relief. "Thank Kami-sama… So where's the Hokage?"

"He's hospitalized now."

"Hospitalized?" he inquired.

"Yah," she verified. "Well, you see, even though Kazekage-sama was the first to react, he cannot control the force of gravity. The Rokudaime fell seventy feet above the ground before the sand reached him. According to the medic-nins, he suffered from some minor bruising and a broken arm."

"I better tell Shikamaru, then." He picked up his cellular telephone and punched some numbers.

"Speaking of Shikamaru, where was that lazy bum? Temari was looking mad as hell during the ceremony," she asked out of curiosity.

He paused. Shikamaru made it very clear that the girls should not know where they are or what they are doing. If he tells Ino where their leader is, she'll know what they are doing. "Umm… Shikamaru? Who's that?"

"Nara Shikamaru!" she replied sardonically. "That lazy jounin of a ninja with an IQ over 200 your currently texting!"

Silence.

"Pineapple-haired jounin who's always complaining about how troublesome everything in the world is?" she continued dramatically.

"…"

Ino eyed warily at him. It was unusual from Lee to act like he had amnesia. What was weirder was that he kept avoiding her eyes every time she asked him a question. _Unless…_

"You're hiding something from me, aren't you?" she concluded, arms folded.

"No…" he lied, though it wasn't very convincing. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.

"You are lying…" she said in a singsong voice and backed him up in a corner. "You boys have been acting strangely these past 2 days. Hinata is being observed by her teammates, Shikamaru completely missed the ceremony even though he knows that Temari will skin him alive, Chouji hasn't done any form of communication to contact me about his blind date and was eavesdropping on Tenten's conversation with Hinata this morning, you're avoiding my questions and I haven't seen Sasuke for the whole day!" Lee hit the wall. "What the heck is wrong?"

"Please don't kill me," he pleaded. "I have sworn to secrecy!"

Ino stared at him as though he lost his mind. "What's happening?"

"That's the point! I can't tell you!" He looked as if he was going to cry.

"Why can't you tell me?"

"Because I have sworn to secrecy!"

'_Damn Shikamaru and his brain cells,'_ Ino silently swore her teammate. He knew Lee would never back down on his word. He was too much of a man for that. Then, an idea popped in her head. "So, you're here because Shikamaru sent you?"

"Yes," he answered quickly. "He said I should ask you something."

"I see… What is it then?"

Lee debated with himself before he asked, "Do you know who is Hinata-san's Anonymous genin # 1683?"

She stared at him. "Who's that?"

"He's the guy Hinata-san likes. We wanted to know who he is so…"

"You went here to find out." Ino finished his statement. Her companion nodded. "Wait. You said she likes a genin, right?"

"Right."

"And you're searching for him?"

"Yes."

"And the guy's a genin?"

He reluctantly nodded. _I hope she doesn't figure it out._

She burst out laughing. "Oh my God! I told her to tell him directly… I didn't know she would use… oh my God!" Her laughter filled the room. "That was so funny! Hahah!"

It was Lee's turn to look at her oddly. Sure the idea of Hinata falling in love with some genin was funny but wasn't Ino taking it a little too hard?

When she calmed herself, she grinned up at him. "Tell you what. I'll give you the guy's registration number."

"You will?" Lee brightened up.

She nodded. "On one condition though."

"What?"

"Help me carry these…" She pointed to the irises lying beside her.

"Arigatou, Sasuke-kun," Haruno Sakura said to her companion. She and Sasuke were walking towards the Konoha General Hospital after having their grocery. The medic-nin was carrying a plastic bag whilst the Chidori-user was carrying two.

Sasuke nodded in response. Although he did not like it, he had to get the information to Sakura. He stole a glance at her. Clearly she was smiling. When's the right time?

They reached the intersection of the park. The road they came from was the road to the supermarket. The one at their left leads to the hospital while the right trails to the village gate. A bench was at the center. "Let's rest for a while," she offered and sat down.

Sasuke carefully laid the bags between them before he seated himself. In silence, they watched how the leaves gently fall from the trees, dancing their grace along the gentle blow of the wind. A mocking bird, perched high the tree, twittered her song, bestowing the atmosphere with serenity. The sky was blue. The earth was peaceful. What more could you ask for?

"Ne, Sasuke-kun…" she broke the silence. His onyx eyes turned to her. "Do you remember this place?"

He shook his head.

"This is the place where I found you… before you left Konoha," she said.

The memory dawned to him. It was on that fateful night she told him she loved him. She was crying back then, begging for him not to leave, promising that if he'd stay, she'd make sure he'd be happy. Well, he refused.

He smiled at himself. "Back then… it was a long time ago."

"I see…" She lowered her head. "Well… everything is still too clear for me. I remembered everything I said. I still remember the promise that I-''

"Forget it," he countered.

"Demo, Sasuke-kun-''

"It doesn't matter anymore."

"Please don't say that. Please don't act as if you're okay… Ever time I'm with you I see those eyes. That they hate you and I wished… I wished I should have stop you-"

"Sakura, you're too annoying," he cut her off. "Although I am in my lowest now, and majority of the villagers find it hard to accept me, I don't regret everything that I had ever done. My leaving Konoha, falling to the darkness, almost being Orochimaru's ultimate container, all of the things that happened five years ago, I don't regret them. They made me see what's important and what's now. They made me want to stay here and be contented of what I have. They taught me that being above others is not my goal in life. They taught me that the future is more important than the past; that dreams are meaningful if what's important is by your side.

"Back then, I didn't care whether I'd die or not. What mattered to me is to become stronger so I could have my revenge. I thought that was my purpose in life. Demo, I now realize that even if I kill Onii-san, Otou-san, Okaa-san and my clan's men won't come back to the living. There are many things I should turn my attention to. And that… My future is brighter than my past."

"Sasuke-kun…"

"Thank you," he smiled. "Thank youSakura for not stopping me. Thank you for letting me go…"

* * *

"Shino, what kind of Kage would slip off the railing and fall seventy feet above the ground?" Kiba annoyingly asked while picking up a red apple across the display of fruits.

Shino sighed and inspected the apple Kiba was holding. "That's worm infested and I don't want to answer."

The dog master pouted then placed back the apple. "You're so mean." Together they pushed the cart and strolled all the way to the vegetable section. "Think he eats turnips?"

"He likes vegetables as much as you like catnip," his teammate replied plainly.

Kiba growled. "We can't feed him ramen, Shino, unless you find some miraculous way to transform red bean soup to antiseptic."

"Mendoukusai," Shikamaru muttered behind them. "Would you two stop quarreling and let's get this _grocery _done."

"Hai, hai…" the two reluctantly agreed.

"Explain to me again _why_ we're here," implored Kiba who was staring glum to the world.

"Mendoukusai," Shikamaru said, woodenly selecting onions, fresh broccolis, and bean sprouts. Before their journey to the supermarket, he received a message from Rock Lee. It says that the Hokage was hospitalized so his mother, upon reading the message, _requested_ to do grocery for her as her son. Normally he would have to decline, proclaim how troublesome women were and sleep. Unfortunately, Kiba and Shino were there and they can't just refuse his _dear mother_. They left Akamaru outside, much to Kiba's dismay, since animals were not allowed inside.

As they reached the cereals display, they met a frowning Hyuuga and a grinning panda. Wait! Panda?

"Neji, what do you think?" Tenten said while waving a box of corn flakes cereals over his nose.

"I hate cereals that crunch."

She raised an eyebrow. "You like your cereals soggy?"

"I prefer rice on my breakfast table," he replied smoothly.

The weapon mistress glared at him before returning the cereal back. "Hyuuga, you're so fun-deficient," she muttered under her breath.

"What did you say?" he snapped.

"Oh, nothing," she retorted in a singsong voice.

"I think someone is doing his homework, Kiba," Shikamaru joked heartedly to their group as they pass by.

"Can you fell the love _tonight_?" Kiba teased as the three walked pass the two. "The peace the evening brings?"

A senbon wandered near the dog-trainer's head. "Inuzuka Kiba…"

He stopped cold, sensing the dangerous chakra behind him. He turned his head and sweat-dropped. Tenten looked pissed.

"What did you say?"

"Umm…"

Neji cleared his throat. "Wheat cereals are good for your health, rice cooker." With that, he dropped a pack on her basket and dragged her towards the vegetable area.

"I told you I was feeling the love today!" Kiba grinned.

A kunai shot pass him. This time, thrown by Hyuuga Neji.

"A piece of advice Kiba?"

"Sure, Shino…"

"Don't joke about them." Shino patted Kiba's back.

Shikamaru wrestled the cart from the cereals display and the three traveled to the ramen section.

"So, what kind of noodles does our Kage intake?" the genius brood over the rows and columns of noodles.

"Ichiraku's?" the bug collector answered.

"Hinata?" Kiba whispered.

Shikamaru stared at him as though he lost his head. "Kiba, humans are carnivorous but we don't eat our own kind. Besides, Hinata is not a strip of pasta."

"Shikamaru." Shino gripped the back of his head and inclined it to the right. His eyes distinguished the midnight haired, white-eyed Hyuuga heiress frowning at the cup noodles. "That kind of Hinata."

"I didn't know you do shopping, Hinata," Kiba commented on his female teammate, while carrying there purchase.

She mutely nodded. "I was about to visit… R-Ro-kkudaime-sama…"

"I see," Shino stated, his face betraying all signs of comprehension.

Akamaru barked gleefully at Kiba. His master grumbled a "Later!" which became noticed by the girl.

"Eh? Is something wrong with Akamaru, Kiba-kun?"

"No," he shook his head. "He's just happy that we're all gathered once in a while!" The dog reluctantly nodded.

"I agree with you there, Akamaru." She patted the dog's head and smiled.

They have reached the bend to the Konoha General Hospital when Shikamaru called her attention.

"Hmm?"

"There's something I've been meaning to ask."

"Eh? What is it, Shikamaru-san?"

"Well, you see, I have heard you asked Rokudaime-sama how to tell a guy you like him."

Hinata's eyes widened.

"And I'm just curious."

'_Kami-sama, who had told them?_' she contemplated.

"Who's your-" his voice was cut off by a very loud, "YOU CAN'T ENTER HERE! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?"

For the first time since I wrote this fic, Shikamaru stopped cold and gaped at the hospital entrance. There stood a big fan held by a Sand kunoichi.

"Temari…"


	7. The Commencement of MI 2

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

* * *

**Chapter VII**

"Say, how will we enter the hospital if your homicidal girlfriend is at the entrance, Shiki-kun?" Kiba teased the strategist to lighten the mood. He, Shikamaru, Shino, Akamaru and Hinata were hiding behind the one of the bushes strategically placed in front of the building for surveillance.

"Ki-chan, shut up before we die," Shikamaru countered violently, staring at the sand kunoichi with fear.

"Shh... We might get noticed," Shino chided the two and ducked. Temari almost saw them.

"Mendoukusai," the shadow-caster mumbled under his breath and thought of a plan.

* * *

"Anou sa… Anou sa, Gaara," Naruto smiled at his companion who was ironically frowning at him. "Arigatou gozaimasu." The look in the Kazekage eyes meant that he had no comprehension of what the Hokage was saying. "For saving me," the blond carefully added. "It really means a lot to me."

"It was nothing. I was merely doing what the contract says," Gaara explained plainly. "We are at peace."

"Yes, I know." The red head's primness forced the Sixth to be formal. "But, I still thank you nonetheless. You saved my life."

Silence. They were contented in this kind of atmosphere every time they're alone. It is as though the serenity of the surroundings help them communicate. But the Fifth Kazekage had other things in mind than just meager silence.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

"Yes?"

"You are welcome," he promptly replied. "Your life was worth saving." The red strands called bangs hid the green depths of his eyes. Naruto had had a hard time figuring out his companion's reaction.

Still, with the red tinting of the cheeks, the Hokage assumed that it was something akin to coyness.

The Hokage broke into one of his famous grins. Who would have thought the Fifth Kazekage, former jinchuuriki, could blush?

"Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Hmm?"

Gaara raised his head to speak to him. "If you don't mind, I would like you answer my question."

"Sure. I mean; you did save my life!" He smiled at him. "So what is it?"

The Kazekage cleared his throat. "Before you fell, I heard you utter a name."

"Uh… huh?"

"I was wondering," he said. "Who is this _Hinata_?"

The Hokage blushed, chuckled and scratched his cheek. He had every right to look away. "Hinata? She's… ummm… I think you have already seen her? She was at our first chuunin selection exam."

If the Kazekage had an eyebrow, it would have arched. "There were quite a number of kunoichis there."

"Ah… she was the one with the white eyes," he clarified.

"Wasn't that Hyuuga Neji?"

Naruto sweat-dropped. "Iie. You see, the male Hyuuga's have milky white eyes while female Hyuuga's have pearly white eyes."

Silence.

"She is a Hyuuga," Gaara concluded.

"Hai… She's the heiress of her clan. She's quite shy, though, but she's very nice. She's one of the most talented kunoichi in Konoha."

"So this Hyuuga Hinata… is she important to you?" the red head asked out of curiosity.

The blonde's blush deepened. "H..hai…"

"And that is why you slipped?"

"I'm cornered, aren't I?" He smiled weakly. "I just wanted to see her smile."

The Kazekage sighed. "It truly is absurd. This thing you call love."

"You can say that again."

After a while, the Hokage spoke again, this time in a milder, less confident tone.

"Gaara?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think what I did was foolish?"

He answered right away, "One can never know. Especially if that person hasn't experienced what you are feeling."

"I see…" The sapphires fell down again. "But if you were in my position, would you have done the same?"

"As I said, one can never know." There was a pause. "But if it was to see those who are closest to me happy, I would gladly lay down my life."

* * *

"Minna-san?" Hinata called their attention.

The dog master looked over to her. "Yes, Hinata?"

"Why are we doing this, again? If we can't visit him today, then perhaps, some other day would be nice, don't you think?"

"Demo, Hinata," Shino spoke all of the sudden, still not breaking his surveillance on the Sand kunoichi. "_We _want to see him with _you_."

"I don't think this is a great time for that." She stole a glance at Temari, who was about to kill a person and then at Shikamaru who was meditating at that time, forming a plan.

"You worry too much," Kiba commented. "Nothing bad will happen as long as Shiki-kun is here."

"That's right." Shikamaru lightly tapped her shoulder. "I have a plan."

She brightened. "Really? What is it, Shikamaru-san?"

"Life-bait."

"Are you suicidal?" Kiba said under his breath, preventing himself from erupting in sheer indescribable terror.

"What? Can you think of anything else?" Shikamaru questioned back.

"Demo, isn't that a little dangerous?" Hinata interjected, concern evident in her voice.

The strategist sighed. "I know that. But it's the only thing we got…"

They quieted for a while, considering the options.

"Deal," Shino agreed. "Who's the bait?"

"I am," Shikamaru replied. They gaped at him. "She'll surely be preoccupied once she sees me."

"Aren't you just adorable Shiki-kun?" the dog master cooed.

"Urusai, Ki-chan…"

* * *

"So Ino-san," Lee started the conversation as they made their way through the park. Apparently, half of the Konoha population was out to visit the Rokudaime. And the park was vacant.

"Hmm?"

"Are you really going to tell me Mr. 1683's ninja registration number?" the taijutsu expert asked with puppy eyes.

She shook her head in exasperation. "Lee-san, for the 1524th time, yes. I will."

"Yosh!"

Ino sighed. Ever since they left the flower shop, Lee pestered her with that question. If Hinata just told the Sixth that he is Mr. 1683 then the issue would be just done with! Her mind rebelled against the I-can't-tell-you-because-you-might-keep-away-from-me nonsense. Honestly, it _is_ the new generation. People should be more vocal about their feelings!

"Anou sa, Ino-san." Lee broke her reverie. She was expecting the question so she cut his sentence.

"Lee, for the last time, I will tell you his ninja registration number after we deliver the flowers." She pointed the basket she was holding.

"It's not like that," he laughed weakly. "I would just like to ask if these are for the Rokudaime."

She heaved a sigh at his sudden change of topic. "Iie. The customer said she and her husband are celebrating their 1st anniversary."

"And they ordered violets?" He smiled at the flowers.

"Uh, not entirely. She said she wanted flowers but couldn't decide which so I suggested irises. The one you're holding are actually irises, by the way," she clarified.

"You mean, these are irises?" he asked quizzically.

"Uh, yeah."

Lee raised an eyebrow. Obviously he didn't know what's the difference between irises and violets.

Ino cleared her throat. "You see, Lee, violets are bluer than irises plus their petals are smaller."

"I see."

"More so, irises are very fragrant especially during rainy seasons," she added.

Lee brightened. "Wow! You really do know much about flowers."

"Not really." She brushed the comment aside although she was very much flattered. "I just like the message attached to their name, that's all."

"Really?"

She nodded, happy with the thought that someone was interested in flowers. "For example, red roses stand for passion while white roses signifies true love."

Lee started writing in his notebook all the messages.

"Pink roses are grace while a yellow roses are for friends. Freesia states friendship and trust." She stopped to remember the name meanings.

He looked up from his notebook. "What do irises mean then?"

"May you have a brighter future ahead," she smiled.

He smiled back and put the notebook back to his pouch. "Ino-san is such a genius when it comes to flowers."

"Why, thank you. Your flattery overwhelms me." She theatrically bowed.

They arrived at their destination, Violet Twilight, a tacky but romantic riverside café near the park. Quietly they approached the guard.

"Hello. We're from Yamanaka Flower. We are suppose to deliver these to Mrs. Ishida Risa," Ino stated their purpose of visit.

The guard stared at them for one moment before he uttered, "One moment." He entered the doors.

It was ten minutes later before he returned. "Please proceed to table number 4."

"Hai, hai. Come on, Lee."

"Right behind you."

The inside of the vicinity was spacious. You can easily locate one table from the other. It didn't take a minute before they found their customer. She was a middle-aged lady, quite fashionable from head to toe in a green kimono. They approached her.

"Ohayou," Ino greeted. "Are you Mrs. Ishida?"

The elder woman turned to smile at her. "Yes. How lovely. Are these the flowers I ordered?"

"Hai! May you just please sign at the bottom part and hand over the payment." She handed her the piece of paper while Lee studied the situation behind her.

It was then that a tall, dark haired man went to him.

"Excuse me, you're blocking my seat," he said sternly.

"G-gomen nasai…" Lee obligingly moved as the figure took his seat.

"Ah… Seiguchi-_koi_, where have you been?"

He was arranging himself when he replied, "Pardon but my business appointment was indeed quite longer than I have expected." When he raised his eyes, he blanched. "Yamanaka Ino-chan?"

Ino quickly looked from the cheque and stared at the one who called out her name. She smiled.

"Oi, Seiguchi-san. It's nice to meet you here," she said amiably.

He returned with a smile. "Hai… It's nice to see you here as well. May I introduce you to my wife, Ishida Risa. Risa, this is Ino-chan. She advised me on how to prolong our relationship."

"Prolong our relationship?" his wife asked in astonishment and turned to Ino with admiration. "Why thank you! It's because of you that we were able to salvage our sinking relationship."

Ino was dumbfounded. Her mind was working on the bits of pieces happening in her society. _Seiguchi-san is married. You're staring at his 10-year-older wife. It's because of you that they're still together. He lied to you when he said he wasn't married. Say goodbye to the man of your dreams and your dream wedding!_

"Ishida Seguichi-san…" Ino glared at him. "You didn't tell me you were married-!" Her sentence was cut off because she began hitting him. "You god forsaken despicable wench! You told me you were single! You lecher!!"

She would have used Shiranshin no jutsu if Lee hadn't caught her by the waist and forcibly restrained her.

"Anou… Mrs. Ishida, we would take our leave now. We enjoyed doing business with you." Lee disappeared together with a trembling Ino.

* * *

"Sakura, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, as long as you allow me to ask you as well."

Sasuke frowned but decided to press on. "Hinata likes the Sixth, right?"

She nodded.

"And her feelings remained unaltered for the past years, am I correct?"

Sakura's eyebrows drew together in tight concentration. "As far as I know, she still likes him… Why? Is there something the matter?"

He smiled sideways. "Just checking."

So he'd been right from the start. Rokudaime-sama was still _the one_. It didn't take him much brain cells to figure that one out. After all, who would be the one closest to the Rokudaime's conducts other than the Sixth himself? _However…_

'_He's _definitely_ not a genin!' _he thought. '_Something is missing here…'_

"So, Sasuke…" He turned to her. "Can I ask you my question now?"

He nodded curtly.

"Do you believe that first loves never die?"

The Sharingan inheritor froze. He wasn't inspecting that sort of question. "Why do you ask?"

She averted her eyes. "Well, you see…" There was a pause. "I have a black sweater at home. It's my favorite though it's thin and doesn't give me warmth. One day it disappeared. I searched everywhere but I couldn't find it. So my mom bought me another one, this time it's green. That sweater was so warm but I pay no attention for it because I'm still searching for the black one. I often throw it around! What's weird is that every time I throw it to any direction it always comes back to me. So I decided to keep it. When I started falling in love with that green sweater the black one appeared. So…" She paused to breathe. "I don't know whether I should keep the black one and donate the green sweater or donate the black sweater and keep the green sweater."

"Uh huh?" Sasuke frowned at the double meaning. "Sakura…" He inwardly pitied her. _She still can't let me go. Well, now or never… _"Let the black sweater be your throw-rag and settle for the green."

"Demo-."

"Either way you still won't lose them," he continued.

She smiled secretly. "But if the black one didn't disappear, would it still be my favorite?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you believe that first love never dies…"

"Uh…" He considered it for a while before saying, "Yes, first love never dies."

'_It fades a way…'_ his head added. It'll probably hurt her further if he spoke that out loud.

"Really?" She cheered up a little. Her cell phone rang so she answered it. "Hello? Hai, Tsunade-sama, I'll be right back." She ended the call and gasped.

"Is there something wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"My key chain is missing!"

He raised his eyebrows. "Can't you just buy another one?"

"I can't!" She shook her head. "It was a gift from Lee-san. He said Tenten-san forged that as a gift for their team before they separated. He'll be disappointed once he knows it's missing."

"Okay so what exactly are we looking for?"

"It's a small miniature of the Konoha hitai-ate," she explained. "I was sure it was here when we left the supermarket!"

"Calm down. You won't settle anything when you're panicking. It may have just dropped somewhere in the park." He held out his hand. "Let's go?"

* * *

'_I must find out who this Hyuuga Hinata is. But I can't search for her in this attire…'_ the Kazekage thought briefly before he uttered, "Henge."

Instantly, his clothes changed to his usual battle clothes though his sand gourd was not around.

"Gaara-sama?" A deep voice sounded behind him. He turned to face his former sensei. "Are you going somewhere?"

He nodded. "I expect to be back before nightfall." A ball of sand formed on the floor to envelope him. It paused midway, though, and Baki was seriously surprised by the next question.

"Baki, I want… Iie." Gaara continued in a meek, almost pleading voice, "May I… borrow your hitai-ate for a while, sensei?"

The man in question eyed at him. Is this truly the Godaime Kazekage or just a product of his obscure imagination_? He did say Henge… _Still, the improvement was remarkable!

"Is there something amiss?" Two green eyes bore confusion at him.

The elder man smirked and untied his forehead protector. "Not at all. I am merely astonished with your change of attitude, my Lord. Normally you want nothing to do with our village." He laughed weakly. "I wanted to do this ever since you were a genin." He handed it to him. "Wear it with pride, Gaara."

He nodded and accepted the piece of metal. The Sand emblem gleamed at him. "Arigatou." It was then that the ball of sand swathed him, and he vanished out of sight.

* * *

"Hi! We're from Konoha Times!"

"Out of the way! The Konoha Bulletin press is here."

"This is the Shinobi Today! We want to make an interview about the Hokage-!"

Temari, eldest child of Yondaime Kazekage, sister to Godaime Kazekage, considered as one of the strongest kunoichi in the Hidden Village of Sand, was pissed. Utterly, juicily pissed to the point that she itched to blow the raucous reporters away with her Daikamaitachi no Jutsu (Great Cutting Wheel Technique). One-fourth of the Konoha Defense Unit was already blocking the approaching media.

What kind of language would she use to drive away these creatures? That she'll never know. They just kept coming and coming!

"WHAT PART OF _GO AWAY_ DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?" she screamed.

"Patience, Temari. Patience." Kankurou warned in front of her.

"Patience, my crap! They'll destroy the whole hospital!" she answered back.

"Mendoukusai," drawled a very lazy voice in the crowd.

All froze. Even the reporters froze, recognizing that lethargic tone that came out of the oral cavity of…

"NARA SHIKAMARU!"

"There's our signal!" Kiba called back from his hiding point. Akamaru barked.

Shino bowed and offered his hand to Hinata. "Shall we run for our lives?"

"S-sure…" Hinata stuttered back in response and took his hand.

And they entered the vicinity.

From far off, Kankurou was torn between preventing his sister from killing an ally, blocking the reporters from entering the hospital or going after the former members of Team 8 who just recently entered the premises.

"Ninpou: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Ninja Art: Wheel Whirlwind technique)

Fortunately (or unfortunately) Shikamaru was able to dodge, landing safely near Kankurou. When he turned he sweat-dropped. Approximately 80 of the rampant populace, ninjas and reporters alike, were blown to a far, far away land.

"Man, I haven't seen you for a month and you're already this ferocious," Shikamaru commented. '_Mendoukusai… At least her attention is diverted._'

Temari spared him an evil smile. "Consider it as my 'I missed you so much' gift for neglecting the peace treaty."

Shikamaru smirked. "Really? I wonder what your 'I love you so much' gift would be if I showed up."

"If you live through this, remind me to give it to you," she guaranteed as she raised her fan. "Daikamaitachi no Jutsu!" (Great Wheel Whirlwind Technique)

"Temari! Not the hospi-!" Kankurou did warning signs which was cut off because the shadow-caster who leaped to evade the attack, dragging the puppeteer at the same time, and a…

"Saikou Zettai Bougyo: Shukaku no Tate!" (Extreme Hard Ultimate Defense: Shield of Shukaku!) A large amount of sand, turning into a miniature of the famed Shukaku of the Desert, gathered around the building, protecting it against the wind assault.

"Gaara-sama?" he whispered under his breath.

"Was the Kazekage watching?" Shikamaru asked him. Kankurou made a frightened face that instantly turned to one of extreme terror.

"Well then," a female voice spoke in front of them. "I suppose we should get serious."

Shikamaru inclined his head to the left and gulped. '_What came over me to do this plan again?_'

* * *

Women were such peculiar creatures. First they were smiling, next they're killing, and before you know it, they're already crying. Sad, sorrowful whimpers that destroyed the whole serenity of the park and made all living animals around went away with tortured eardrums.

Rock Lee handed Yamanaka Ino a box of tissue, wanting to cry as well because he spent all his savings to buy all those loitered tissue paper. "There, there, Ino-san. We're already away."

"How could he do this to me!" she wailed, crumpling the tissue paper as she did so. "I thought he was the one! For gracious sake, I even planned our wedding!"

"Is it really depressing?" Lee asked innocently. His concerned onyx met two fiery blue ones. Grudgingly, she took the box of tissue paper from his hands and cried.

The taijutsu specialist gloomily stared at her. Truly it was such a hard way to lose a love one especially if he/she belongs to another. Somehow, he understood what the blonde was going through. Even though with hard work he got his precious' heart, a shadow of doubt enshrouded him if they truly were to be together.

He shook his head. He must not let these crazy hallucinations get better of him. His Sakura-chan would never betray him. That's for sure.

His hand wandered to get another box of tissue when the tips of his fingers touched cold metal. He looked quickly at it, thinking it was a dangerous weapon, only to realize it as a key chain. He smiled at it and picked it. The design looked new and ironically familiar.

"Someone must have dropped this," he said out loud. He read the name: 'Rock Lee'.

He froze. The key chain Tenten gave to him as a parting gift and the one he gave to Sakura-chan for their first month-sary! What is it doing here? Could she have left it on purpose and decided to forget their promise to one another?

'_Iie, she must have dropped this while on the way,_' he said to himself to calm down. Inside he was still trembling. He swiftly put the key chain in his pouch and snatched the box of tissue then gave it to Ino. He mentally reminded himself to add in his notebook that women can finish a whole box of tissue in a minute when they're depressed.

"Thanks, Lee-san," she gave one final sniff before she blew her nose.

"No problem." He grinned at her lack of modesty. "Do you feel better now?"

She nodded and sniffed. "Why didn't you let me kill him, Lee-san?"

"Because the Ishidas looked as if they belong together," he replied right away.

"Do you really think so?"

He nodded without hesitation.

"Even if Mrs. Ishida is older than Seiguchi-san by 10 years?"

"Love knows no boundaries. Look at Temari-san and Shikamaru-san. They're together even though she is older than him by 3 years. Plus they kill each other every time they meet!"

Ino fell silent.

"Ino-san."

"Hmm?"

"One day, you'll find the person who will make you happy. You'll realize that he's the man who deserves your tears and will never ever make you cry. But until that day comes…" He handed out a petal. Ino raised one eyebrow before she realized that it was from an iris.

"May you have a brighter future ahead!"

She stifled a sob, miserably doing so, and whirled about to envelope him in a fierce hug. There in his arms she broke down crying

And all he did was to hold her close.

"Sakura," Sasuke said.

She slowed her pace and finally stopped. "Huh?"

"About what you said earlier, that if the black sweater didn't disappear would it still had been your favorite."

She looked at him and understood quickly. "Don't worry about it. I was completely out of my mind when I said that…"

He smiled side-ways. _'Good.'_

The two came around a thick yew bush to see Rock Lee in front of Ino, his arms around her, kissing her hair.

Sasuke froze.

Sakura jerked back as if she'd been struck. She yelled like a banshee, ran to the couple, grabbed Ino's hair with all her might.

"You miserable boyfriend stealer!" she yelled and threw herself on Ino, knocking her over backward. "How dare you, Ino! You have a boyfriend, and you have the nerve to take mine!" She yanked at Ino's hair.

"Stop it! For Kami-sama's sake-!"

Sasuke grabbed Sakura and picked her up, shoving her toward Lee, who caught her and held her arms to her sides. "Let me go! I'll make her two inches shorter!"

"Sasuke-kun, take Ino-san away from here!"

The medic-nin turned on Lee and yelled an inch from his nose, "How dare you take her side than mine! You unfaithful-!"

Sasuke heard the yelling behind him, but he did not turn to stop them. When they were at a fairly good distance, he dropped to his haunches and gently brought Ino down. She was shaking her head, as if to see if Sakura was still around. She was filthy, her face streaked with dirt, eyes watering.

"Are you alright?"

"No, my scalp is on fire. I hadn't realized Sakura was so strong."

"What were you two doing?"

She sniffed to calm herself and wailed instead.

* * *

The interior of the hospital was dark, cold and lifeless.

"Hinata…"

"UWAH!"

THONK!

"Ow. Shino!"

"Stop fooling around," the bug master replied. "Hinata, can you see with your byakugan?"

"Iie." For it was dark, Shino could not see when she shook her head.

"Kuso," Kiba cursed softly. "Akamaru, can you sense the Sixth?"

The dog grumbled and growled. "The sand is getting away with his scent?" he sighed. "Kuso… We should have known that it wouldn't be easy to locate him. He is the Hokage after all. Let's call it quits?"

Sounds of clashing winds came from outside.

Kiba cleared his throat. "Let's search that Hokage!" He tripped. "Ow!"

"Who goes there?"

The dog trainer straightened himself. "You guys go ahead. We'll handle this Sand-nin. Right, Akamaru?" The dog barked.

"Demo, Kiba-kun…"

"Take care." With that, Shino dragged Hinata around the hall.

"Halt! Intruders!"

'_If I were a medic-nin, where would I place the Rokudaime?_' Shino asked himself over and over again as they run about. Two Sand-nin drew nearer as they proceeded to another hallway.

"Mushi Kabe no Jutsu (Bug Wall Technique.)." He uttered and the Kikkai bugs gathered around them.

Hinata winced. Was it really necessary to use all this chakra just to find Naruto-kun?

"Hinata-chan?"

"Eh?"

"I'll distract them. When I say three, open the door closest to your right. Don't come out until I come for you, understand?" Shino's tone was too serious so she had no other choice than to comply.

"One."

THUD!

"Two."

THUD, THUD!

"THREE!"

She pushed herself out of the wall of bugs and opened the nearest door as she was told. She entered and shut the door firmly closed, catching her breath at the same time. She had never run that long for a long time!

The Byakugan mistress inhaled large amount of oxygen to steady herself. Already, her fingers were shaking.

"Hinata?" A familiar cheerful voice asked behind her. Her heart froze in place. When she turned, she didn't dare to breath.

"N…N-na…r-ruto-kun?"


	8. The Hidden Agendas

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

* * *

**Chapter VIII**

"Hinata?" That was the first thing he said, or more likely whispered.

Truthfully, he was absently staring at the vacant seat near his bed, a seat recently been occupied by the Kazekage mere moments away before he hurriedly left, a determined look plastered on his usually dormant face. After his guest left, he started attacking one of the bananas innocently lying on the basket on his side table. When he finished munching his food, he carelessly threw the banana peel aside. It was then that the door forcefully opened.

Normally he would have shouted, demanded who disturbed his moment of tranquility and demerit the poor person. Actually his vocal cords were already prepared in doing so. But when he opened his mouth, preparing for his speech, no words came out. For he was looking at the back he usually gazed at.

'_Kuso. I'm so bored I'm imagining things,' _he scolded himself. But when his self-assured dream sprite turned around, he froze.

Sapphires met pearls.

"N…N-na…r-ruto-kun?" his dream sprite spoke.

He mentally shook his head, attempting to wake up, forcing himself to believe that this was all a part of his daily musings produced soulfully by his boredom and over-fatigue. Surely it was not _she _carrying a plastic bag he saw. Surely he was dreaming…

"Are you real?" they asked unexpectedly in unison. Realizing that, the girl looked away blushing furiously while the Kage was taken back.

"Anou… What I meant was… uh…if you truly are the real Hyuuga Hinata and not a product of my wild imagination, uh… um…" he lost words. _Kami-sama, I'm making an idiot of myself!_ He searched wildly for anything that would divert their interests. The closest thing was the chair he stared on. "Uh… Take a seat?" He pointed at the chair, offering a shaky smile as well.

The Byakugan mistress meekly nodded, still looking away, and marched straightly to the chair he was offering.

For her eyes were too focused on looking away she did not notice the banana peel lying innocently on the floor. Her left foot squashed the innocent banana peel and when she took another step, she slipped.

"Ah!"

Fortunately, Naruto was fast. He quickly stood up, used his good hand and pulled her against him, quickly catching her before she fell.

What's unfortunate was that his right arm was squished in the process.

"Daijoubu, Hinata?" he said over clenched teeth.

* * *

"As much as I want to entertain you I cannot. I have plenty things to do and no one to do it for me," the Fifth said over the paper she was working on. Due to the Sixth minor injuries, the Fire Country's documents remained untouched so the Fifth, with her unwillingness, came out of retirement and was insisted to finish the job until the Rokudaime recovered.

Chouji was seemingly unmoved. "Umm… Hokage-sama…"

"Whom do you want to take you outside: Shizune, Kotetsu or Izumo?" she asked brusquely while writing.

Chouji sighed. _Well, I guess I have no choice… _He opened his bag and brought out a bottle of sake. The Godaime froze. She placed her pen down and stared at him.

"I'm listening."

Chouji smiled and poured her a cup. "Hokage-sama, where were you approximately forty-eight hours from now?"

She drank her cup and was filled with vigor. "That's two days ago, right? I was back Konoha and decided to surprise Naruto."

"And during that time, was Hinata with Rokudaime-sama?"

Tsunade took her time before answering, "Yes. But I did not know she was with him _before_ I entered. I thought he was _alone_. I must have interrupted some important discussion."

Chouji paused in pouring another helping of sake. "In what way are you sure that their conversation was _important_?" He continued filling the cup.

"Thanks," she politely thanked him, and gulped the content. "You do know that Shizune will be upset if she finds out you're giving free sake to me, right?"

He gave her a shaky smile. "I am prepared for death."

"Love." The elder woman sighed.

"Huh?"

"Love," she repeated plainly. "The guy is looking intently to the girl while the girl can't look at him straight." She whirled her cup, watching the remaining content swirl around it. "It's an old-fashioned situation wherein the two feel deeply for one another but cannot face rejection so they reduce to silence."

"Uh…" His superior seemed to be drifting to memories so he decided to press on. "Did… uh… Hinata mentioned anyone?"

The elder woman looked warily at him. "Eavesdropping is not my kind of game no matter how tempting it is."

Chouji sweat-dropped. "Uh… hahahha…" _I guess she doesn't know anything… I better leave now…_ "I just remembered I have something to do." He quickly rose and bowed. "I will be taking my leave now, Hokage-sama."

"Already?" The woman pretended surprise. "We haven't finished the whole bottle yet!"

He raised his head and smiled apologetically. "I would really love to stay but I have a _scheduled _date with someone special." He bowed again. "I'm very sorry for disturbing you." And he took his leave. _I guess I'll text Shikamaru while on the way. I didn't find anything._

Meanwhile, inside the Hokage office, the Godaime smirked at the wooden doors.

"Hatake Kakashi."

_Poof_! A large amount of smoke appeared and when it dispersed, a man with silver hair revealed, currently reading a book.

"You called?"

The Fifth nodded at him. "Those boys are up to something. Mind if you find out for me?"

Kakashi's eyebrow quirked. "That's handful. Must we interfere?"

"Of course. It's about time he got himself a love life."

* * *

"G-gomen nasai, Rokudaime-sama…" She stuttered yet again. She made an idiot of herself by tripping, further injuring the young Hokage, and stuttering.

"Now, now, Hinata." Naruto held up both hands to calm her, regardless of the pain in his right arm. "There is nothing to be worried about. I was just testing if my right arm is feeling better. Honestly, it's quite okay and I can almost feel my fingers…" He made a move to clench his right fist, unable to stop his flinching.

She grimaced and he laughed out loud.

"Tsunade-baasan said that if I am experiencing pain, that would mean my arm is already healing," he continued. "She said in about a day or two, I'll be able to flex my arm though I can't rely too much weight on it. I guess I just need rest. I've been working really hard so that may be the reason why my arm broke too quickly. Heck, I haven't been practicing my jutsus for a month! It really is hard to become a Hokage-."

"Naruto-kun…" she whispered, almost soundless. But the Sixth, no matter how high the pitch of his rant… erm… speech was, heard it.

"Yes?" he asked with all the jollity he could muster. He cut her off, whatever it is that she was about to say. Her eyes were intense, like she was about to say something special. "You know I haven't eaten lunch yet and I'm kind of hungry."

"Eh?"

He smiled. "You do know how to peel an apple, right?"

"You want me to what Hokage-sama?" she asked incredulously.

"Naruto-kun," he reminded her. "I want you to feed me. You know… Peel an apple and put it in my mouth. I'll chew and digest it, I swear!"

"Anou… anou…" She was shaking her head, unable to believe that this was all happening. Her Naruto-kun asked her to feed him!

"I'm not really forcing you Hinata… You could say no…" he said reassuringly.

Despite of himself, he closed his eyes and silently prayed her answer would be yes._ Onegai Kami-sama! I already gave up on Sakura-chan. Let her answer yes. I promise Ill do all my paper works from now on… I promise to honor Ero, eh, Jiraiya-sama and Tsunade-ba… um… Tsunade-sama. I promise I won't slack off… I'll be kind to everyone… I won't abuse my authority ever again… I'll-_

"Naruto-kun…"

"Eh?" He still had his eyes close. And when he opened them, they widened. The apple was already been peeled and cut to bite sizes on a plate. Hinata smiled warmly at him, blushing furiously.

"Say… 'Ah'?"

"Ah… mum!" He ate his apple slice and chewed it enthusiastically. "Delicious!"

Hinata smiled, obviously happy at his childish antics, though she hid it behind the curtains of her bangs. This, perhaps, was the happiest day in her entire life. Not only did she was able to personally feed the Hokage, she was also able to gaze again the Uzumaki Naruto-kun she has fallen in love with; sweet, innocent and cute. And she hasn't stuttered yet! _Kami-sama, arigatou gozaimasu!_

"Anou, Hinata…" he broke the silence.

"Hmm?" She raised another apple slice, but he declined. She lowered the slice, her eyes questioning. "Is there something wrong, Hokage-sama? Does your stomach ache?"

"Naruto-kun," he reminded her again. "Iie. I'm fine. I just wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?"

"Um… You see…" He lowered his eyes and started scratching his cheeks. He did it simply because he was a little tense.

Hinata seemed to have sensed that. "Is something bothering you?"

"Uh… Yah… I think… Er…" He seemed to have lost words but found enough courage to speak his mind. The Sixth cleared his throat. "About two days ago, you've asked me how to tell a guy you like him? Do you still remember it?"

"e-Eh??? H-hokka-gge-s…s-sama?" Oh! Her stuttering was back.

"Naruto-kun," he reminded her yet again. Why was it taking too long for her to memorize his name? "Hinata… There are no guards or scoundrels around who had the nerve enough to eavesdrop at our conversation. You are free to call me whatever the thing you want to call me. Understood?"

For her vocal cords were not cooperating with her, she simply nodded. She wasn't courageous enough to challenge the Sixth.

"Good." He smiled, apparently pleased at her decision. "Anyway. Going back, you asked me how to tell a guy you like him. And I was wondering if… Well…" There was a pause as he looked away. "Have you told the lucky guy what I told you to tell him?"

"Eh?" She blushed furiously. She knew this was coming sooner or later. "A… An-nou… um… I…"

He appeared to be analyzing the situation. "I also recall you haven't told me his name as well…" He smiled brightly but frowned when she looked away.

"Do… you-."

"Huh?"

Gaining enough courage she spoke, her voice shaking, "Do… you… W-would… you-u l-like me… to tell… you?"

Naruto's eyes widened. He wasn't expecting that. Or rather… He _was_ expecting it but he did not want to answer… What would he do? He feared for the genin's life once he uncovered his identity. He feared he would use Rasengan on the poor fellow if he found out his name.

She continued. "I… I can… if you want me to… I… will if you want me to…"

He turned to look at her again. This time her head was bowed, either showing respect or simply she was too scared to look at his face once she told him the name. So it was still his decision after all.

_Very well,_ he thought. _If it's my decision then I decide._ "Hinata."

"H-hai?" He tipped her chin up to let her stare directly in his eyes. He gave her a smile.

"Tell him first you love before you tell me his name," he decided with all his heart. At least once he used Rasengan on the genin, Hinata already told him and he won't have to be bothered by his conscience that the poor soul would die knowing he was unloved.

* * *

"How could you text in a time like this?" Kankurou shouted, running around.

Shikamaru, who was also running, looked up from his cell phone. "What? I'm conducting a mission. Besides, I've just received a message from Chouji. It's a matter of life and death."

"SHIKAMARU! COME BACK HERE!" screamed Temari from behind.

He winced at the call of his name. It somehow reminded him of his mother. '_Were Nara men doomed to meet people such as the likes of her?'_ he inwardly thought as he sent a message to the Hyuuga prodigy. It was then that Kankurou came to an immediate halt. He immediately followed the suit. "What's wrong?"

"I sense a dangerous chakra."

Shikamaru's eyes darted from the puppeteer to the wind-user. Surely enough, Temari was far from them, creating some seals and then biting her hand. She let her blood flow to her fan. Their gazes met in one moment, and then she smirked.

"Oh, no."

"Eat dust!" She raised her fan. "Kuchiyose: Kirikiri Mai!" (Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance!)

* * *

"One regular chocolate and vanilla ice cream please," Sasuke ordered to the ice cream vendor. It was a fairly good distance between them and Lee's, the Konoha Children Playground. Ino was on the other end, watching the children tussle about. A few kids run around, others were either playing with the sand, sliding or swinging. It was peaceful. It was calming. And then he sighed.

"Imagining those kids are yours?" the vendor asked him.

"Huuh?" That caught his attention. "Oh. Uh. Sure."

The man chuckled at him. "Say, you're that Uchiha Sasuke, right?"

His consumer froze. "Uh, yeah…"

"Thought so. You wear that symbol on your back, you see. I just wanted to be sure." The vendor said and began scooping vanilla ice cream. "You still thinking of resurrecting that clan of yours?"

He nodded while looking at the scenery. He hated to talk. _No_. He loathed talking. It was as if you could settle anything with just talking. He could answer, but he won't start the conversation. Speaking was a gem. When you spoke, you're opening a door for a stranger, trusting that stranger. And he learned the hard way in trusting strangers.

The ice cream guy then handed him the vanilla ice cream. "Here's for you. Eat up."

"Thanks." Sasuke replied as he received the ice cream. He froze midway before the food reached his mouth. "How come you know the vanilla's for me?"

The vendor smiled, his eyes hiding behind his cap. "From experience. Chocolate is complicated for you."

Sasuke gazed at him sternly, before nodding. "My brother used to tell me so."

"Your brother must be a great man to discover the meaning of chocolate."

Sasuke smirked. "Yah. He killed my whole clan."

"Oh…" The man shrank at the statement. He decided to change the topic instead while scooping chocolate. "Do you know that girl over there?" he motioned to Ino who was grinning at the kids while they fight.

He nodded.

"She seems sad," the guy lightly commented. "Like a person who undergone a heart break." He handed him the ice cream. "Here ya go."

"Thanks." The chidori-user paid and then went on his way.

When his consumer was in a good distance, he shouted, "Be sure to make her happy! You shouldn't let that one go!"

A vein propped. "She's not my-." Sasuke froze.

The peddler's gone together with the stall.

* * *

"Itachi, what took you so long?" asked a shark-faced guy, wearing a damaged hitae-ate of the Hidden Village of mist. At his back was a big roll of bandage.

The man raised his Sharingan eyes. "It's none of your business."

* * *

"Hyuuga Neji, try to listen to me at least," complained the weapon mistress to her teammate.

Neji, who was studying an eggplant, inclined his head to her side and raised one eyebrow. "If Kiba angered you, do not throw that hatred against me. I am not responsible for it."

Tenten snorted. "How could you tolerate him?"

The genius shrugged. "It's similar with my first approach with Lee. I accept him _only_ as a ninja of the village. Nothing more, nothing less."

She was momentarily silent. "You know sometimes I can't understand you."

He placed the eggplant in her basket and looked closely at her. "How so?"

She sighed and moved out of his eyes, though she knew that's not possible since he had byakugan. She tried to relieve herself by putting all she touched in her basket. "You appear to be insensitive, but inside you really care so much." He replaced all she put in her basket back while she talked. "Why are you like that? You always act differently than what you really are. How can I take care of you if I can't understand you?"

"You don't have to understand or to take care of me. I can take care of myself," he replied placidly.

"Right. Like the way you've taken care of yourself during the Sasuke Retrieval Mission," she added in one of her sarcastic tones, observing a radish.

"That was different. I'm a little weak by then because a big fat guy ate all our chakra," he explained.

Tenten turned to glare at him. Pointing the radish at him as a weapon, she said, "A little?"

He eyed at the vegetable then at her. "Yes."

She snickered then placed the radish in her basket like the rest of her vegetables. She whirled and marched to the free taste section. Neji followed her like a reluctant servant.

"What are we doing here?" the taijutsu genius asked.

"I'm looking for food so I taste it first before I buy it," she retorted without looking at him. "Want some?"

He winced at the sight. There were broiled chicken feet, chicken intestines, chicken head and black square objects on a stick. "You eat these kind of dishes?"

"Duh." She glowered at him and munched at the chicken intestine.

Neji's eyes widened. "That's despicable."

"It is but I don't care. I'm hungry," she clarified.

"So you do this to avail free lunch?" he commented. "Tch, tch…"

She finished her food and aimed the stick at him like a senbon. "Look, Mister I'm-so-great-I-don't-eat-street-foods. Just because you came from a powerful family, eat at fancy restaurants, and get served the highest quality of everything there is, you have no right to degrade those who cannot afford-."

"Miss. If you want to fight with your boyfriend, could you please do it somewhere else? You're scaring the customers," the salesman called out.

"Urusai! Why do people always think we're together?" Tenten scowled at him then glared daggers of doom, death and destruction at Neji. "And as for you, Hyuuga Neji, don't ever come near me again because I'll make sure you'll regret it!" She stomped her foot and strode away from him as fast as she can.

Neji stood unmoving. He had been convinced a long time ago that Tenten was quite frightening every time she's angry. He hadn't imagined she would be _that_ frightening. Now he's problematic. _How am I supposed to finish the mission if the target hates me?_

"That girlfriend of yours is scary…" the vendor commented. "You okay, mister?"

"Everything is… disasterrific."

* * *

"What do you think you're doing with her?! And why were you hugging her?" yelled Sakura. She and Lee were sitting on the bench long after Sasuke and Ino left. The pink-haired kunoichi had enough courage to break the silence after a minute.

"Lee! Speak to me!"

The taijutsu specialist sighed. "Sakura-chan… Ino-san and I were delivering flowers. We stopped at a restaurant-."

"You went to a restaurant with her?" Sakura intervened.

"_Only_ to deliver the flowers," he specified the reason. "It was there that we found out that Seiguchi-san had a wife-."

"Wait he _had_ a wife?" she interfered again. "Isn't he Ino's boyfriend?"

"_Has _a wife who's older by ten years," he continued. "And, yes. He _was_ Ino-san's boyfriend. To continue he told Ino-san that she was the reason why his marriage is still functioning. The wife in return thanked her and well…" He paused, thinking of right words. "Ino-san was upset and started attacking the poor person. I stopped her and dragged her to here, comforted her and that was when the Sasuke-kun and you found us."

"Oh my God…" Sakura made faces from hurt, to pity, to anger, then to grieve. "I'm a bitch," she concluded but then she glared at him. "But that doesn't necessarily mean you _had _to hug her. And kiss her hair! Dammit! I have a beautiful hair! Why can't you kiss mine?"

Lee was slightly taken back. "Sakura-chan… It's not as if I don't want to kiss your hair. It's just that-."

"You like blondes!" she suspected. "What is not in pink? Green and pink look good together. Or do you want to break up with me?"

"No!" he denied and stood up, his back facing her. "If you're going to accuse me of things I am not, I swear I will walk out of here!"

"Fine!" she countered. "If you're calling it quits then… then…" He dreaded the next sentence. "Let's split up. You can go to wherever Ino is while I… I…"

"Go to Sasuke-kun?" he suggested, still not facing her.

Sakura gasped. "Lee that's not-."

"Hey. You decided by yourself. We're not together anymore, right?" He turned and stared meekly in her eyes. But then he turned away again. "Ja ne, Sakura-_san_…"

And he left her, standing alone.

* * *

"Shino, we're caught," said Kiba, tied to a post. Akamaru was taken by the sand-nin they fought. Hard as he tried, he could not get the ropes untied. It was as if the rope was accursed by a special of jutsu that makes it hard as steel yet flexible as rubber when unbound. _Kuso… _

Shino was silent. He stood in front of Kiba, hands tied securely behind him. His rope was a little bit tricky for it draws towards his skin every time he uses chakra, binding him even tighter. His bugs were all paralyze due to the scent that lingered in the air, more like a bug repellent. And Shino hated bug repellents. For that reason, he was feeling a little dizzy. But before he passed out, he wanted to play with his teammate first.

"You know, Shino. I remembered that genin guy we interrogated a while ago. The one who brought ramen to Hinata-chan. Maybe this was what he was feeling when we chained him to the wall."

No answer.

"Hey! Are you still alive? Don't give up on me! I don't want to be tied alone!"

_Let's start! _"Kiba…"

"Yeah?" Kiba sounded hopeful.

"I'm getting dizzy…"

"Shino…"

"Please… For the last moment of my life… Please keep quite. I need silence," he requested.

The dog-trainer became teary eyed. "Shino…"

Shino continued in a solemn voice. "You know… All I ever wanted before I die was to see my fly, William Frederick John III, having little insects of his own. He helped me during the Chuunin Exam. I wanted to be there for him when his female bug would lay the eggs. I want to be there as his little insects grew up and be a fly just like him… But now…"

"Shino?" Kiba sobbed.

He added in a whisper. "I promise myself I won't die until I destroy all the bug repellents in the world…"

"Shino…" His teammate sniffed.

"Shut up. You're destroying the mood," he said vehemently. "Kiba, before I die, I want you to promise that you'll take care of my bugs. They're the only treasures that I've got."

"Shino…" Kiba sniffed. "I promise to love and to honor them as I loved and honored Akamaru."

"Thanks…" Shino replied quietly almost as silent as a whisper. "You're a good ninja, Kiba…" It was then that his head hung, his shades falling to the ground.

"SHINO!"

**

* * *

**

"Come out, come out! Wherever you are," Temari growled in a singsong voice.

"Your sister is the most troublesome person I have ever met in this entire planet," Shikamaru commented as he and Kankurou stayed hidden behind the bush; the same bush Shikamaru and the former members of Team Eight used a while ago.

"You can say that again…"Kankurou, who was looking around, hoping the weasel hadn't seen them, nodded sagely. "By the way, Shikamaru?"

"Heh?"

"If you consider my sister as the most troublesome person in the entire planet, why then, did you pursue a relationship with her?"

Shikamaru frowned. He was thinking of that same thing before he realized that he and Temari are not together. He considered it first before answering, "Here in Konoha, we consider our kind of relationship as MU."

"MU?"

"Mutual Understanding," he simplified. "We don't acknowledge ourselves as officially together but we do know that there is _some feeling_ between us that does not regularly happen in any normal shinobi's who are always together."

Kankurou showed signs of confusion but opted to press on. "So why did to decided to undergo in such relationship? Is it because she's always by your side?"

The shadow caster was afraid of that. He wasn't prepared to answer it. And then he remembered he asked his father that same question.

"Uh… You see…" _How would I say this?_ He cleared his throat. "Your sister has her share of days when she smiles the greatest."

"Huh?" the puppeteer stared blankly at him.

Shikamaru sweat-dropped. "You wouldn't understand." It was then that his cell phone rang.

"Oh… geez…"

"So there you are," the sand kunoichi said, looking over the bush.

* * *

_So this is the Hyuuga Compound… _The Kazekage commented as he stared at the entrance of the building. Sure… It was big; larger than his house in the Wind Country but maybe that was because his whole clan wasn't staying in _just _one house.

"Hey kid! Do you need anything?" a man in a blue kimono asked. He stared suspiciously at the sand-nin, scrutinizing if he was one of those bastards who tried to enter the Hyuuga premises a month ago.

Gaara turned his head and looked squarely at him, his face defying all signs of rage. A simple Konoha ninja would never say that to the Godaime Kazekage. Still, he reminded himself that he was in disguised. His forehead protector obscured the tattoo on his forehead.

He forced himself to make a polite response. "Nothing, sir…"

The man eyed at the boy. Cute kids had the potential to break a bone. He knew that based on experience when the Hyuuga prodigy almost crushed his bones after an exhausting exercise. "Why don't you go on with your way?"

The younger man stared at him, just a further more until he could enter and yet this man was preventing him in doing so. But an idea formed in his head and he made his leave. When he reached a concrete wall, blocking the person's view, he performed a set of hand seals. Instantly, the sand covered him, and then sucked him to the earth. When he resurfaced, he smiled.

He's inside the premises.

'_This time, I'll definitely know who this Hyuuga Hinata is,_' he said to himself.


	9. The Afternoon at the Hospital

**Chapter IX**

Silence invaded the room as they the final sentence escaped his lips. Tell him first you love him before you tell me his name. Frankly she did not know how to make a suitable response to that so she simply smiled meekly and replied, "Okay."

He then smiled in return. "I wish you luck, Hinata. You're a good person who deserves all the blessings life can give."

She blushed at his comment. "A-arigatou, Rokudaime-sama…"

I came, I saw and I conquer. Hell yeah! The Sixth grinned. Suddenly, a pang of drowsiness hit him. He blinked away his fatigue. The Hyuuga heiress saw this though.

"Are you alright, Hokage-sama?" she asked, concern very evident in her voice.

"Yah… Just a little bit sleepy. I think that sleeping pill is taking its effect." He yawned. A brilliant idea hit his head though. "Hinata. Could you do me another favor, please?"

"Eh?"

"Can you sing 'til I'll fall asleep?"

"P-pardon m-me?" Hinata stammered. Surely this was just a dream! The Hokage would never request that thing to her. She could feel her cheeks heating up. Must be the effect of the drugs… must be the effect of the drugs…

The Hokage smiled shakily at her and turned away. His eyes looked a little dim. "You know, don't you? When I was growing up, I never did have a family. Nobody was there to acknowledge me. Nobody tells me bedtime stories before I sleep at night. Nobody tells me to wake up in the morning. What I really want when I was child was to have someone sing to me before I sleep. So… Hinata?" He raised his head and looked at her eyes. "Can you? Please?"

"H-hai…" She blushed, a cute shade of crimson. "B-but my voice is not that good, Naruto-kun."

"I don't really mind," he replied amiably, and rested his head on her shoulder. Hinata shook. He asked when he looked up at her, "Hinata… Starting today, may I call you Hinata-chan?"

"I don't really think I'm in the position to mind," she reasoned out.

He let out a boyish chuckle, and draped her arms across him.

"E-eh?" Her fingers shook. This was certainly distance she ever had with the Sixth. 'Must be the effect of the drugs… Must be the effect of the drugs…' she keeps repeating in her head. Must choose a song. "H-here goes…"

_You are sunlight and I moon_

_Joined by the gods of fortune_

_Midnight and High Noon_

_Sharing the sky, we have blessed you and I_

She began to stroke his unruly hair, just to calm him, to allow him a little peace for sleep. It was the only thing she could do for him. In all honesty, Hinata was afraid of revealing her whole heart to him. She was afraid to be rejected by the person she has loved for more than three years now. She's afraid that her confession might actually change the current relation they have, a relationship she had so earnestly build for more than three years now. But then again, she didn't really have to worry that much. Hinata hid a secret smile. _'I'll just have to agree for the moment with everyone else that he's so dense.'_

_You are here like a mystery_

_I'm from a world that is so different from all that you are_

_How in the light of the night did we come so far?_

He closed his eyes. The motions of her hands were soothing. When he did, he went back in time: the hour before his fight with Neji. She was there, offering him words of comfort. She made him believe that he was more than he actually thought of himself to be. She believed in him when he almost lost all faith he had for himself; his very own angel, ready to rescue him even from himself. Maybe that was when he started to notice her_._

She began humming when his breathing became a little more rhythmic and even. She felt as though he was already sleeping. She gently lowered him on the pillows, smoothing a few strands from his face. Gently, she continued her little song, hoping it reached his heart as it did hers.

_You are sunlight and I moon joined here_

_Brightening the sky with the flame of love_

_Made of sunlight, moonlight_

"Arigatou, Hinata-chan," he drawled off. "Hinata-chan… If I told you I like you, what would you do?"

She couldn't believe what she just heard. "W-what?"

"You probably won't notice because you already like another certain someone." He seemed to have not heard her because he persisted on, looking up in the ceiling. He inclined his head to smile at her. "Daisuki da yo… Hinata-chan…" After the last word, his eyes drifted downward. His breathing became rhythmic, even. His grip on her became loose.

Meanwhile, Hinata was still trying to decipher what just happened.

* * *

"Kankurou," the feminine murderous voice growled. "Get away from here as far as you can. Understood?"

The puppeteer looked from Shikamaru to Temari then back to the shadow-caster. His eyes clearly said, 'Take care.' He stood up and walked as fast as he can.

Shikamaru looked at Kankurou's back miserably.

It was then that Temari turned to Shikamaru to smirk: smirk an evil, evil, evil smirk. "Any last words before I tear you apart?"

"I was conducting a mission?" It was more of a question than a statement. Temari looked unimpressed. "Really, I was!"

"Liar," she accused. "You've always hated missions. Besides it's a holiday today. Every single ninja should be in front of the Hokage building."

"I have an excused slip! Here!" He handed out a small white sheet of paper with the Hokage seal on it. "Personally signed by the Sixth himself!"

Temari frowned at the paper before she snatched it to read.

_To whom it may concern,_

_I am excusing Nara Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Neji, Rock Lee, Akimichi Chouji, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and Akamaru for the Peace Treaty of the Fire and Wind Country as these persons stated above are to accomplish a mission assigned by the Rokudaime Hokage himself. I am deeply sorry for their neglecting the ceremony. I hope to have your support and cooperation._

_Signed,_

_Rokudaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto_

_Date of today_

_P.S._

_I hope you try our famous stall Ichiraku Ramen House! Our ramen is the greatest of them all!_

The sand kunoichi almost tore the paper. These guys are good at making excuses!

"Am I forgiven now?" Shikamaru grinned brightly at her.

She glared. "No."

"B-but… The letter-"

"If you really wanted to come, you wouldn't mind this letter," she reasoned out.

"It was from the Sixth!"

"The Sixth is Naruto," she replied

"Why? If it had been Gaara would you pay the mission no heed?" he countered.

Temari's glare reached a higher scale. "Do not include my brother in this conversation."

"You're being troublesome again, woman."

"How dare you!" She raised her fan in a deadly arc, preparing to hit him. His cell phone rang.

"Wait!" he held out a hand. "Let me answer my phone first."

Temari stood agape then she lowered her fan very slowly. "Five minutes."

Seeing that, Shikamaru answered the call. "Hello?"

"What took you so long to answer?"

"My one true love."

"Oh." There was a pause before his caller added in a much softer voice. "So is she away?"

"Nope, she was about to kill me when you called. If you don't mind, Neji, let's keep this conversation short. I'm not exactly on the right situation to entertain long conversations."

"Okay. Uh… you see… My mission isn't going too smoothly."

"Let me guess. You pissed Tenten?"

"To put it mildly. It's not as if it was my fault. She has this peculiar taste for food."

"Apologize," he simply suggested. "Then tell her you don't mean it."

"Does that work?"

Shikamaru considered it for a while. "Well, it doesn't work on Temari so it must work on the remaining female population." Said female ninja was pissed off beyond any doubt, but she kept her end of the bargain and stood still. "Okay? Sorry. Love to keep in touch but a kunoichi is about to hit me with her fan. Good luck." With that he ended his phone call. He turned to Temari.

"All done?" she asked lousily.

He nodded and dodged. She almost hit him!

"Prepare to be vaporized!"

* * *

Neji stared blankly at the phone, his brain registering Shikamaru's suggestion. He, the Hyuuga prodigy, was suggested to apologize to Tenten, because of a fault he didn't even commit? He considered it for a while before he dialed Chouji's number.

* * *

Chouji smiled at the cellphone screen. His 'blind date' texted him that their date will be postponed because she has flu. So now his date will be scheduled next week. At least he had plenty of time to complete the mission.

His cell phone rang. He answered it. "Hello?"

"What do you do when a girl hates you?" The voice sounded just like Neji.

He frowned. "Why? What did you do with Tenten?"

"Why does it sound like I'm the one who did the wrong thing? It's her fault for loving black square objects on a stick!" he defended.

"Oh you mean betamax?"

"Beta-what?"

"It's the black square object on a stick. You boil pig's blood then the part that thickens is the betamax. It's quite tasty when broiled."

He heard the Hyuuga prodigy coughed at the other line. "Pig's blood?"

"Yah! It's edible!"

There was a very long pause. "Anyway, she was eating a chicken head so I somewhat said that it's despicable-."

"You said that food is despicable! How dare you Hyuuga Neji!" Chouji bellowed over the line.

"Chouji, for the sake of the mission, what will I do?" Neji almost screamed.

Chouji calmed himself for a while. "Tell her you're sorry."

"Shikamaru already suggested that."

"Tell her you didn't mean it."

"He said that as well."

"Tell her that her choice of food is amazing."

Pause. "But it's despicable."

Chouji ended the line. He had no patience for those who think food was despicable.

* * *

Grr… So much for help… He wracked his brain cells for people who could help him. The only person who came to his head was the weapon's mistress. He sighed. It was hard when they're not talking. She was the only one he turned to when he has socialization problems.

He looked for Uchiha Sasuke's code and started connecting.

* * *

"So that's the reason why you were hugging Lee?" the Uchiha asked, one eyebrow drew upwards.

She snorted. "Yes, I have this weird jinx for en with black hair and eyes. It runs in the family."

Sasuke looked unconvinced.

Ino was taken back. "You want proof? Alright, I'll list all of the women in my family who suffered from dark-haired men."

It wasn't until she was three-quarters of the way through her roll that Ino realized that there was something wrong. Sasuke had turned his face away from her and odd sniggering noises occasionally escaped him. Ino began to watch him more closely, and it seemed to him that Sasuke's shoulders shook once or twice. Her suspicions were confirmed when she finished her pathetic inventory and Sasuke could no longer contain himself, but broke into a loud guffaw.

"That was the joke of the day," he exclaimed between chuckles, forcing himself to stop laughing.

Ino was not amused. She glared at Sasuke who in return patted her on the shoulder, still not quite able to contain his mirth.

"Sorry. The Uchiha clan doesn't believe in that sort of riffraff. We believe in much simpler things."

She raised an eyebrow. "And that is?"

"Destiny," he answered plainly.

Her eyebrow hitched higher. "What does Kami-sama's will have to with this?"

"Well, if you pursue a relationship and you two end up breaking, it only means that person is not what you're supposed to be with. You forced yourself to be the one for you."

She scoffed in a light-hearted manner. "I didn't know you believe in soul mates."

"I don't," he clarified. "I believe that in this crazy world, there's this certain place where I would meet the one meant for me."

"What if you meet her when you're old?"

"Ah? Oh… I made a pact with God. If I don't meet her before I turn twenty I'll look for another person. The Uchiha clan must be revived!" he replied dramatically.

She looked away grinning and started attacking her ice cream. After sometime, he spoke up. His voice carefully modulated. "Ino?"

"Hmm?"

"If… in such a way… If I didn't leave do you think there is a possibility that Sakura and me will be together?" he asked the question that had been wrenching his brain… And his heart…

Unexpectedly, Ino just turned to him and laughed out loud. "What kind of question is that? Of course you two would be together! You're teammates!" He stared at her to let her know exactly what he meant. "Oh… That's what you meant…" Her voice trailed off. "It didn't happen so what's the point of worrying?" She pointed out.

"I don't know," he said honestly. "It's just that… Why be happy with Lee if she could be happy with me?"

"Why be happy with you if she could be happy with Lee?" she countered. "It's not your problem anymore, Uchiha. They're both old enough to handle a relationship. If they're not meant to be together, it's they're decision. We'll just have to wait and see."

"Uh-huh…" Sasuke went into thinking. Wow. Team Ten sure has a lot of talent about the ways of love. He tested her. "Well then, if I didn't leave… Do you think that there is a possibility that you and me will be together?"

She eyes widened for a moment, unsure of the thing she heard, a blush forming on her cheeks. Then she grinned at him, "Nice try."

Kring… Krang… Kring…

The Uchiha sighed, and fidgeted his radio. And Team Gai has a lot of talent with regards to 'perfect timing'. He smiled convincingly at her. "Excuse me. I need to answer my neck contraption." He stood up and walked away from her. "What do you want?"

"Didn't you know you had to ask for your caller's name before you could ask such question?" The voice sounded irritable

"What do you want, Hyuuga?"

Silence. "How do you, that is, tell a girl you're sorry?"

"The best possible way is to eat your pride and kneel. Then tell her you're sorry and that that you didn't mean it."

"You expect me to do that?"

"You needed a suggestion right?" he countered sarcastically. The line was dead. Sasuke gritted his teeth. 'So much for thanks.' He took deep breaths to calm himself.

Ino screamed.

"What?" He turned around so quickly to ensure she was alright. Ino looked fine, though.

She hurried to him. "Sasuke-kun, can I borrow your cell phone? This is an emergency! Please, please, please!"

He mutely nodded, thinking she lost her head, and gave her the device.

"Thanks!"

* * *

'Damn! This is not the right time for recharging!' the prodigy thought miserably. He took large gulps of oxygen to calm his raging emotions. This really wasn't turning out to be his day.

He, Hyuuga Neji, would frop on his knees to apologize to a girl? The horror! The terror! The sheer atrocity of the thought! The abomination that is beyond everything in this world!

* * *

The front door opened. The sand-nin came in who Akamaru and Kiba faced a little while ago. The ninja moved slyly towards Kiba.

"Hey," the ninja started. "You okay?"

Kiba raised his head. Apparently his tears haven't yet disappeared. "Haven't you done enough?"

"Well, you did breakinto a secluded government property and almost murdered half of the Kazekage's bodyguards so at least we have the right to torture you. What are you doing here anyway?"

Kiba barked, "Like I'll talk! Could you just please untie us? I promise I won't kill you!"

"I don't know about the second part but as far as I know, Shizune-san asked if you could be released," he assured the posted ninja. "You should be thankful to her."

"WAIT! MY FRIEND HERE IS ALREADY DEAD! HELP! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE WITH A DEAD PERSON! HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The ninja shut the door close. "Oh the drama…" he mumbled.

* * *

Uchiha Itachi was sautéing garlic and onions when he sneezed. 'Someone must be talking about me.'

"Ne, Itachi-san. You okay?" asked his shark-finned companion, Kisame, who was carrying loads of vegetable.

Itachi glared. "Don't call me by that name. We might be recognized." They are not really the real thing. They are malfunctioning clones created by the Akatsuki boss in order to replace the original members in the case that they fail. He and Kisame were part-time employers of Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant; restaurant because ever since the Sixth was inaugurated more customers started going to the stall. Within three years it grew and became a restaurant though the Rokudaime still thought it was stall.

"Sorry Inori-chan." A knife almost hit him.

"Quit with the honorifics."

Itachi and Kisame, for fear that they might be recognized, changed their appearance (not to mention sexes) just to work. So in short, both he were now she. Itachi was now Inori while Kisame was Kaoru.

"Anou sa, Inori-chan," Ayame entered the kitchen. She sweat-dropped at the imbedded knife.

Inori gave a gay laugh. "Kaoru-chan is a little bit depressed today. She hit the wall with the knife too hard. Ne Kaoru-chan?"

Kaoru smiled shakily. "Hai… Sorry, Ayame-chan…" With that, she drew the knife from the wall and joined Inori in laughing.

"Ah… Ok… Anou, Inori-chan," she called out on the person holding a spatula. Twelve orders of beef ramen for table two."

"Twelve?" Inori asked sweetly.

"Yes twelve."

'God, the person who would eat all these ramen sure is desperate,' Itachi commented silently. He inwardly snickered at the customer. 'Maybe the customer is a big, fat, ugly and single lady!' He stopped at table number two.

"Konnichiwa. Here are your twelve orders of beef ramen." He gently placed the tray on the table. He then gave a smile full of sugary sweetness at the customer. And then he sweat-dropped. 'Haruno Sakura.'

Eyes puffy, pink hair askew, the medic-nin sure looked down right miserable. "Thanks."

"No problem. That would be 1620 ryuu all." He wished this order to be done with. He wasn't really good around crying women. "Can… can I have the payment now, miss?"

"Sit down and eat with me." It was not a request but a full-out order.

"Hah?" He wished he heard it wrong.

"Join me first in eating or else I won't pay for that damn bill!" Sakura hollered on the top of her lungs.

"H-hai…" Well, he wasn't good at angry women too. He hastily sat down. "Anou… Oneesan, what's your problem? Did you break up with your boyfriend?"

Sakura stared at him before she broke down crying. "Is it written all over my face?" she screamed over her whimpers.

He could but only stare. "What did he do?"

"He… he told me… he told me he wouldn't… he wouldn't leave me alone… That he'll always… stay with me… that he'll protect me always… for life! And then… And then… I saw him with another woman… WAHHHH!!!!" She wailed. "What should I do?"

"There, there oneesan" Itachi patted her back. "Men who are polygamous should be stripped naked, be tied to the nearest road and have a disabled life." Homicidal genes activated, he continued. "Skin him alive and throw him to the nearest lake. Then fish him up and roll him in a mat of flour. Then… Then… Place him in boiling oil and deep-fry him! Afterwards, let a pack of wolf eat him!" He stopped because the customers were looking at him; even Sakura was looking at him in a peculiar manner. He gave out what he thought as a convincing gay laugh. "I was only joking!" They all nodded in understanding and continue in their meals.

When Itachi recovered, he added, "Oneesan, you should talk to him first. In a relation, open communication is must in order to overcome the trials that come your ways. I believe that if you truly love him, you will listen to him."

"Gee… Thanks…" The green eyes were now shining and shimmering with tears.

"That would be 1620 ryuu for the ramen. Ayame-chan would be the one to get the payment. Happy eating." With that, he stood up and left.

* * *

"And that's what happened…" Lee wailed. They were at a video bar, a video bar recommended by Maito Gai himself. The Green Beast of Konoha said that it was the best videoke bar in the entire village, the entire continent.

Kakashi poured him another glass of milk. Why Rock Lee got somber with fresh milk, Kakashi does not know. "Lee-kun, I'm sure Sakura is just confused…"

Lee drained the glass in a single gulp. "But it hurts so much!"

"Could you excuse me for a moment, Lee-kun? I have a phone call to make." Kakashi smiled apologetically and stepped out of the room. At this rate, all his savings would disperse. Lee already drank seventeen liters of milk. He immediately dialed Sasuke's number.

"What am I gonna do?" Lee whined miserably. Then his cell phone rang.

One message received. Opening… Opening message…

---------

From: Sasuke

Subject: It's me, Ino!

To: Lee

Lee! 012607. You do know what I mean, right?

----------

Lee read it for a while then read it again.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHH!!!" screamed Lee.

Kakashi came barging in. "You alright, Lee-kun?"

"This is it," he said softly. "This is it..."

"What... What is it?"

* * *

_I thought the outside is huge. The inside is even bigger._ If the Kazekage was gifted with eyebrows, they would have creased his forehead now, no matter how hidden it was behind his sensei's forehead protector.

The great house, strengthen by adobe walls, was filled with simplicity yet class. Eerie silence filled the whole compound. It was not soothing. He was sure there were eyes in every corner. He smirked. Of course, the Hyuuga's are famous for their Byakugan. Silently, he made his way across the building, unmindful of the steadfast gazes.

'The combination of white and blue surely is quite pleasant to the eyes,' he mused. He would definitely get his house repainted.

All of a sudden, he felt a presence behind him, one of that chakra he did not know. Male? No. Female.

"Who are you and how dare you step into the main house?" the light voice said behind him.

He turned around. He stared at two very white, pupil-less eyes. The girl was blessed with dark hair, contrast to her very pale skin and eyes.

"Answer me."

Gaara made no reply.

She withdrew a deep breath. "I am Hyuuga Hanabi; daughter to the clan head," she said proudly with equal sternness. "Be a snob in front of the Main House member, will you? You should be ashamed of yourself."

For the first time in many years, a girl was courageous enough to question the authority of the Kazekage.

"Still no answer?" The girl seemed to be unpleased. "At least be responsible enough to give me your name." She looked squarely at his forehead protector. "Or is it that the Sand ruffians are to dense to answer such question as simple as this?"

Thankfully, the Hyuuga prodigy taught the Godaime some useful calming techniques! Else this girl would be dead by now. Gaara was forced to answer. "My name is Yashamaru. I'm here under a direct order from the Fifth Kazekage himself."

* * *

"Naruto-kun… I guess the only time I could say "I love you" to you is when you fall asleep. But I promise… I'll tell it to you… One day…"

It was then that the door opened, revealing the Hokage advisor. "Konnichiwa, Hokage-sama. I was wondering if…" His voice trailed off because he stared at the Byakugan mistress.

"Konnichiwa, Sai-sama," Hinata greeted him.

"Konnichiwa, Hinata," Sai greeted back. He looked from her then to the figure sleeping on the bed.


	10. The Revelation

**Chapter X**

"Thanks, Sasuke. You're a lifesaver!" she cooed and smiled then returned the phone back to him. He paused midway in pocketing his handy-dandy device. He looked up to her. Ino held up her hands in an effort to stop what he was about to say. "Don't look at me like that. I only know that you're searching for some genin whom you think Hinata fell in love with. Your objective is clearly vague from my mind so don't pressure me any further."

"You still talk too much," he commented. She turned to glare at him, which he countered with his scrutinizing eyes. "Let me guess… Lee told you about it?"

"Idiot," she told him and sat at the bench. "He wouldn't do that even if it costs his life. Lee's too loyal to betray his 'sworn secrecy'. Although he did gave some hints."

"Uh…huh…" He walked to her side but did not attempt to sit down.

"I won't tell you even if you follow me to the end of the world, which is impossible since the world is round and there isn't such a thing as the edge of the world where people fall and got eaten by monsters but I still won't tell you."

Silence.

"I already told Lee. It would take less than a minute for Lee to tell the information to Shikamaru, and it would take less than a second for Shikamaru to know who the guy is so back off. I won't tell you."

"Uh-huh…" This time, he was sitting beside her, apparently listening to what she was saying.

"I won't tell you, Sasuke-kun. Okay, quit it. You can even kneel but it wouldn't work. Hinata told the Sixth she likes him and used a genin for a cover up-." she gasped and stared at him. He grinned. "Damn," she cursed, covering her mouth.

"In times like this, I usually say 'I'm the Uchiha. I always get what I want.'" He winked.

"Double damn," she cursed again. "I don't know how you even did it!"

"If it would make you feel any better, I already know it was the Sixth."

She glared at his sarcasm. "It's not funny."

"I'm not laughing." He cleared his throat. "So, since you already spilled the beans, can you now tell me why Hinata choose a genin and not someone with a higher rank? Comparatively speaking, a Hokage is way above of a genin."

"Look she liked him ever since our Academy years. Would you prefer an Academy Student than a genin?" she countered.

"So she used a genin to not bruise his ego any further?" He stared at her unconvinced.

She rolled her eyes then glared at him. "Alright, you win. We had this talk. Sakura told her to tell it to him indirectly but I told her not to tell him that sort of-"

"So why a genin?" he cut her off knowing that this conversation would be longer if he did not.

"I don't know. I'm the one holding the 'Tell him directly' flag. But maybe…"

"Yes?" From experience, Sasuke knew that only women could understand a woman just as men understand a man.

She looked away from him and stared at the bright scenery of the setting sun. "Maybe she's the only one who looks at Naruto differently. Well, ever since he was inaugurated, I had this special distance on him. He's not the same old Uzumaki Naruto I could smack or punch. He's on this pedestal I could never reach, and I thought if I reach for that pedestal I might be hurt. But… Hinata is different. She still acts the same way as before in his presence. Probably because she always stutters every time she sees him."

"Uh… Ino what's the point?" He was getting tired of all this drabbles.

She smacked him in the head. "Baka! I'm a jounin and you're a chuunin so you better respect me!"

"Itai…" He rubbed his injured head. "Hai… Hai… So what exactly did you mean?"

"It's like this. We see Naruto as a Hokage, our superior, while she sees him as a genin, the person she fell in love with. Get the point?"

He shook his head. "What's the connection between our superior and the person she fell in love with?"

"They're the same person!" she almost yelled.

"Then why didn't she just tell him directly? It would have made this a lot easier!" he replied in an as a matter of fact tone.

She stared at him as if he was insane. "You're missing the 'Tell him indirectly' part."

"Oh… So she didn't say it directly because she was suggested to say it indirectly," he concluded then frowned. "Man, I don't understand you women."

'Triple damn,' Ino cursed in her brain.

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Lee."AAHHHHHHHHHHHAHHHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!"

"Lee-kun! Calm down," Kakashi reprimanded the younger jounin while covering his ears.

"Demo… Demo… Kakashi-sensei!" screeched Lee. "Look!" He almost smacked the Copy-nin with his phone. Kakashi grudgingly took the phone and stared at the screen.

GIRLTXT. Join the hippest girl talk on land: GIRLTXT! Learn about the latest fashion trends, the hottest talks, the coolest gigs plus more! To join text GIRLTXT to 2209.

"You're planning to join GIRLTXT?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Ah?" Lee grabbed the phone back. "Sumimasen. I opened the wrong message." He punched a series of codes then handed the phone back to Kakashi. The man took it and read.

---------

From: Sasuke

Subject: It's me, Ino!

To: Lee

Lee! 012607. You do know what I mean. right?

----------

'012607? Looks familiar,' Kakashi mused as he stared at the phone. When he looked up, Lee was eyeing at him as if what he was going to say would be the salvation of the whole country. "Judging from the number itself, the ninja probably graduated a year after you."

"Is that right, Kakashi-sensei? Then the person must be around my age?"

Memory dawned to Hatake Kakashi. He nodded at Lee. "Hai. So what are you planning to do with the Sixth?"

"Nani?"

"The registration number belongs to none other than Rokudaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto-sama!" He nodded sagely. "I would recall any registration number immediately, especially if it belongs to one of my kawaii students."

"Nani?! Anonymous Genin #1683 is the ROKUDAIME?!?!"

* * *

They broke apart, chests heaving in exhaustion.

"And if you ever miss another ceremony again without so much as a warning, I'll have your head!" Temari lost hold on her fan and it dropped parallel to her side.

Shikamaru smirked. "Hai… Hai… Troublesome woman…"

"What did you say?"

"Nothing," he drawled lazily. He walked closely to her and bent to pick up her weapon. He almost fell down from its weight but he survived. "Look I'm sorry."

"Hmmp," Temari retrieved the fan and looked at him pensively. "Alright, you're forgiven."

"Really?" His face brightened up.

She nodded. "One question though. What's your mission about?"

He gulped. "Well… it's troublesome to explain but…"

She quirked one delicate eyebrow when he finished his story, arms crossed. "I'm not impressed."

"I did not apply any effort to make it impressing. The mission really pisses me off," he explained.

Temari just shrugged. "If you really don't want it, you could always tell your Hokage. I believe you consider him as one of your friends."

"Hey. Just because he's my friend doesn't mean I could use his political powers to get what I want. And he can really be scary sometimes," he clarified and flashed an alarmed look at her. "I still don't know how he got it."

"Probably Tsunade-sama trained him to apply a little force. With you as a ninja, a Kage really should have a tremendous amount of convincing powers to get your lazy ass working."

He sneered. "You don't have to rub it in. Industriousness does not become of me. "

Temari sighed hopelessly. "I guess you're right. It's not everyday that 'He who had the IQ of over 200" is serious in his work. I wonder what your Kage did…"

Kring… Krang… Kring…

His phone vibrated in his pocket, indicating that someone was calling him. Temari nodded to let him know she approved that he should answer it. He quickly did.

"SHIKAMARU-SAN! I WAS WITH KAKASHI-SENSEI IN GAI-SENSEI'S FAVORITE KTV BAR! THEN SOMEONE TEXTED ME SAYING THAT SOMEONE#2 IS SOMEONE#3! THIS IS A MAJOR EMERGENCY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Shikamaru winced at the volume of Lee's voice. "LEE! Calm down. If you break my eardrums, my neurons would be of no use," replied calmly by the strategist. He could hear the junior green beast of Konoha's sheepish laugh from the other line.

"So sorry, Shikamaru-san. You see I got over excited over this super-ultra cool tidbit of information that I just had to shout to let you confirm it!"

"Okay." Shikamaru placed the about a yard away his ear. "I'm ready!"

"Anou sa… Shikamaru-san! I just found out from Kakashi-sensei that Anonymous Genin #1683's registraion number is 012607 and he is none other than ROKUDAIME-SAMA!!!!! Of all the people, our target was just within our reach all this time!"

Two doe eyes narrowed. With an incredible amount of speed Temari hadn't known Shikamaru possessed, he placed the phone again in his ear. "What did you say?"

"Anou sa… Shikamaru-san! I just found out from Kakashi-sensei that Anonymous Genin #1683's registraion number is 012607 and he is none other than ROKUDAIME-SAMA!!!!! Of all the people, our target was just within our reach all this time!"

"NANI?!"

"Anou sa… Shikamaru-san! I just found out from-."

"Yeah! Yeah! I got that part! So the target is…"

"Rokudaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto-sama!"

Shikamaru cut the connection.

"Shikamaru, you're too loud. What were you yelling about-," her voice lost track when she saw his expression. Shikamaru was past the point of hearing.

"Chouji! Go to the Hokage building and look for ninja with the registration number 120607! Don't ask any more questions! Just do what I tell you!" Shikamaru frantically screeched over the phone. "Temari!"

"Hai?" The lazy genius was so angry it sort of freaked Temari.

"Let's go inside! I need Team 8 immediately!" With that, he darted to the hospital entrance, unmindful of the sand defense the Kazekage summoned a while ago.

"Oi! Why the heck are you running so fast?"

"Mendoukusai! Why can't I contact Neji?"

* * *

"Shikamaru, hey! Answer me! Answer me, damn it!" the kunoichi bellowed on the Konoha ninja busily digging his fingers on the phone.

"Achoo!" Neji sniffed. "Where is that charger? I'm sure I placed it on the table last night," he mumbled under his breath as he searched for that wired device in his side table. He opened the drawers, and then closed them when he didn't find it. Somebody lightly tapped his sliding rice-paper doors in the middle of his hunt. "Who is it?"

"It is Saezaki, Neji-sama. I beg your pardon but Hiashi-sama would like to have your audience. It appears that a certain ninja from Suna is here to see you."

"From Suna?" He looked up from his drawer.

"He identified himself as Yashamaru, Neji-sama." Saezaki took two steps backward as the door coolly opened.

"Who's that?"

The man sweat-dropped. "We would like to ask you the same thing. Will you help us clarify his true identity?"

Neji nodded.

* * *

The door opened again. This time, a feminine figure stood at the doorway, arms crossed. "What did you two do this time?"

Normally, Kiba would have flinch from the sound of that authoritarian voice. However, this fic was not made to be normal and so Kiba smiled at the figure. "Shizune-neechan?"

The former Hokage assistant went to his side. "Explain yourselves."

"You see… Shizune-neechan, we were trying to visit the Sixth then these sand-nins blocked our way so we had no choice but to fight-"

"And that resulted to three cracked walls, an almost demolished lobby and twenty-five injured ninjas?"

Kiba thought of it for a moment before he vigorously nodded. He earned a punch from Shizune. "Ow!"

"Next time you destroy a public property, make sure it's not the hospital!"

"Demo… Demo… Demo… They killed Shino!" defended Kiba.

Shizune stared at him for a moment then looked over to Shino. She stood up and walked to where Shino was. Her slap sounded within the four corners of the room. "WAKE UP, BAKA!" She screamed then started shaking him up.

Kiba sweat-dropped. "Shizune-neechan! It's not good to dishonor the dead. They might haunt you!"

"Ughh… Uh…" Shino opened his eyes. "Shizune-neechan?"

Kiba gasped. "Sh… Shino! You're alive."

"Apparently your suppose-to-be dead friend was unconscious." Shizune whirled at him. "Seriously, Kiba-kun, are you really a jounin? Shino-kun was just out cold."

The dog-trainer stared at her, next to Shino who offered him a sorry-I-had-to-lie smile. His left eye twitched. "ABURAME SHINO!!!!!!"

* * *

"Eh?" Hinata suddenly stopped walking when she heard the scream. "Kiba-kun?"

"It appears that your friends are having a little chat," the advisor mulled over as he walked passed her. He stopped and turned around smiling. "Do not worry yourself. They are in good hands."

She offered a weak smile. "Do you know where they are, Sai-sama?"

"Of course." He nodded at her, signing that they should continue on their way. She had no choice but to comply. Although Sai greatly improved and could express his emotions, his smile still unnerved her. It seemed as though he knew something she did not: something that would cause her downfall.

"Something the matter, Hinata-sama?"

His honorific startled her, breaking her reverie. "Eh? Why the honorific, Sai-sama? I should be the one giving respect to you."

"Just practicing incase…" he let his voice trailed off.

"Incase?"

"Incase someone makes a daring move and courts you," he frankly remarked, mindful of her deepening blush.

"What are you… tr-trying… to say?"

"Although it was improper, I overheard your conversation with the Sixth a while ago," he elucidated his ill manners. "I know it was unethical but I did not know he was with someone. Still I hope for your forgiveness. Do not worry. I won't tell anyone about the talent portion."

Her cheeks reddened even more. "It's… alright…"

"I'm glad." He stopped and looked at her, making her stop. His eyes were clearly fixed on her, those unmerciful black orbs that told her to listen to what he was going to say or else she wouldn't see the sunrise again. "I would like to make it clear that I do not think you suit the Sixth very well." Her eyes widened. "You belong to the Hyuuga Clan, one of the pillars of the Konohagakure no Sato. I believe the people would agree to you but I do not imagine the Hyuuga elders accepting Naruto-kun so easily as you have. All they would see is a normal boy who was raised without parents. A commoner." He gave emphasis to the last word. "You see, to like the Sixth, you have to look pass his childishness, his lack of potential and his misconducts. You have to see who he really is to be able to accept him. I do not think that your leaders would do that. The Hyuugas, in exception to you, think highly of themselves. They would not care if he were the Hokage or a village hero for your sake. Do you see why I do not favor to you?"

Head bowed, she replied, "Hai."

"If he were to court you, he would have to suffer greatly. He would have to risk his title just to reach you: an acknowledgement he wanted ever since he was a kid. The villagers might resent him again, assuming that their Sixth left them for just one woman. You do know that?"

"Yes." Hinata managed to look up.

"I'm glad that you see that his life would be miserable." He smiled at her. "Shall we continue our way?"

She nodded, heart heavy with the resent deliberation she had received from the advisor. She walked stiffly, like her whole world was breaking. She hadn't considered those options. Of course, he would leave his title for her. But she knew the sacrifices he made for that name. Was she really that important to him? Would he risk everything for her? That would make her immensely happy but it wouldn't be the same for him. He would be happy with her, she'd make sure of it, but he wouldn't be completely happy without his title.

"_I'll train and search for Sasuke! Then I'll inherit the Hokage name, dattebayo!"_ She recalled his statement back when they were genins. 'What to do?'

"Hinata-sama?" Sai stopped again. She followed the suit without answering. "There are still two other things."

"Umm… Okay…"

He studied her thoughtfully before he continued, "The Sixth formed a team composing of your friends for a special mission. It would really be a great help if you could give them this." His hands wandered inside his formal kimono and brought out a folded piece of paper. "This is a valuable piece of information. Please hand it to them then tell them to return it to once the mission is done. I trust you would not read this." He handed it out to her. "Be careful. It's Hokage property."

"I see…" She now held the paper with pride and kept it in her kunai holster.

"Hinata-sama, one other thing."

"Hai?"

"Those things I said earlier, I meant them, regardless of the fact that they hurt you."

Her eyes lost their sparkle. "I understand."

"Demo…" he started. "I see the way he looks at you. And if you are the only who could truly make him happy, then I would gladly accept you."

* * *

"Can I ask you another question?" Sasuke blurted out all of the sudden at a haggard Ino.

She managed a nod. "Sure. I think I could still take another stupid question."

Sasuke snorted but decided to press on. "Hinata loved Naruto ever since day one. He doesn't acknowledge 'til the Chuunin exam but still, her feelings remained unaltered. Why?"

"Geez… Why are you so hooked up with their love story? You desperately need a love-life, don't you?" He delivered a weak laugh for her comment but chose not to reply. Ino seemed to feel his change of mood and answered with a sigh. "Loving someone who doesn't love you is like watching a star you know you can never reach. But you just have to keep on trying. You know why?" He shook his head. "Stars fall, right?"

His eyes widened, then he looked away.

"Sakura told me that when you left. You're her star, bright and always there to guide. But when you disappeared, she wanted to bring you back. 'Life is incomplete without him,' she said."

"I guess I ruined it, didn't I?"

"A perfect someone only exists in dreams. But in reality, we should learn to appreciate the real someone. It may not be the one you expect, but someone you deserve," she quoted.

"Real-… huh?" Sasuke saw his handy-dandy cell phone in Ino hands.

"Be careful in letting go of the things you thought were just nothing, because maybe someday you'll realize that the one you gave away is-." She didn't have time to finish because the Uchiha irritably took the phone back. "Hey!"

"And here I thought you were quoting all those from your head," he replied complaining.

"What am I? A quote addict?" she glared doom, death and destruction that he glared back.

Kring… Krang… Kring…

He rolled his eyes and gingerly picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey! It' Shikamaru! I just heard this troublesome information and I really want you to confirm-"

"Anonymous Genin #1683 is Rokudaime Hokage, Uzumaki Naruto-sama? I got that from Ino," he clarified.

* * *

He dialed Shikamaru's number. "Hello, Shikamaru? We can't find 012607."

"Okay." Shikamaru sounded really pissed over the phone line. "Chouji."

"Yah?"

"Do me a favor and go to the local KTV bar Gai-sensei always goes to. You'll find Lee there. I'll assemble the rest of the Team while you make sure he doesn't drink any liquor. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" He ended the call. Chouji smiled at the figure behind the desk. "Thank you for your cooperation, Godaime-sama."

"It's my pleasure to help my cute little successor."

Chouji froze over that sparkle. It meant something. "That's a good thing, right?"

There was a dangerous glint on Tsunade's eyes.

* * *

It took Neji a half hour before he managed to convinced the Hyuuga interrogation corps to stay away from the perimeters. It was tough, especially with Hanabi-sama glancing him an uncertain eye, but he managed to do so.

"Alright," he said once he had closed the door. "Who are you?"

The man stared at him for quite some time before half of his face was dissolved into a pile of sand. It was only for a short while, but Neji already guessed who it was.

"I'm not really sure you're supposed to break into these walls," he said. "Regardless of you position."

"I have my reasons."

"I see." Neji wasn't quite sure he understood but this was Gaara he was talking about. He really doesn't understand anything going on inside the red-head's mind.

Silence loomed among the two. It was hard to form a conversation.

"Hyuuga Neji."

"Yes?"

"Who is this Hyuuga Hinata?"

If Neji was more disoriented than he was a while ago, he would have laugh at the question. However, he was Hyuuga Neji and the Hyuuga Neji did not laugh. Secondly, he was at the presence of the Godaime Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara-sama. This scene was the combination of the two icy ninjas during the NARUTO series. They seriously wouldn't laugh at each other.

So Neji, upon knowing those reasons, just coughed discreetly instead. "She's the Hyuuga heiress, one of the premiere kunoichis of the village."

"Is she anything similar to Hyuuga Hanabi who handed me to the interrogation corps a while ago?"

Neji coughed again. "To tell you frankly, they are completely different from each other."

"In what way?"

Neji closed his eyes, trying to meditate. "To put it simply, Hanabi-sama is like the sun while Hinata-sama is the moon." Gaara just stared at him. Neji seemed to get the point and elaborated. "Hanabi-sama is the sun. Showy, arrogant, pig-headed, she outshines everything that surrounds her. She's the personification of the clan surname itself. Hinata-sama, on the other hand, is the moon. You would not see her true brilliance until everything is dark. She guides everyone through the darkness, offering comfort and having nothing in return."

Gaara still stared at him.

Neji sighed. "It's hard to explain."

"Thank you very much again. And sorry for the trouble we caused you." Hinata gracefully bowed at the two before straightening up and went to her friends: thinking Shikamaru, a glaring Kiba, a happy Akamaru, a scared Shino and a confused Temari. Well, Shino wasn't exactly scared. He was only tensed. But Shino being tensed was a big thing.

"Geez… While I was stuck with a lying bug-user, Akamaru was actually petted by those sand-nins," muttered Kiba.

"We don't have much animals in the desert," defended Temari.

"But he was having a paw-massage!"

"Oi, Shikamaru. Are you okay? You looked pretty so beaten up," said Kiba. Shikamaru only shook his head.

"Oh. That's right!' Her hand wandered into her kunai holster and brought out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Shikamaru. "Sai-sama wanted me to give you this. He said it's for your mission."

Seeing that Shikamaru was beyond human comprehension, Shino took the paper and read the inscriptions on the paper. "Please return it to me once you're done. 1683 -Sai."

Like a person who was dragged to a nut hole and brought back, Shikamaru came back alive. His left eye twitched.

Temari noticed that and dragged Hinata to the direction of her home. "Come on. I'll take you home so your dad won't have any bad ideas," she said to Hinara. "You boys take care of that lazy jounin over there, 'kay?"

The two remaining sane man nodded, not fully comprehending what was happening. When the two kunoichis were at a fairly good distance, Shino unfolded the paper and read. "This is-."

"What?" asked Shikamaru as he peeked. His eyes widened.

_Name: Uzumaki Naruto_

_Ninja Registration Number: 120607_

"Oi, Shika-kun. Why are you blinking at that registration paper so much?" inquired a peculiar Kiba. He peered on the paper. "It's Naruto-sama."

"This is it…"

"Did you say something Shikamaru?" Kiba asked.

"Anonymous Genin #1683 is the Sixth," Shikamaru heavily concluded.

* * *

**Sometime later at the local KTV bar…**

"So our target is the Sixth," Chouji repeated that same line as Sasuke notified them about the information he got.

"Yes, Chouji," confirmed Sasuke.

Lee frowned at his fortieth milk shake. Kakashi went outside so that the boys could have their talk. "Where's Neji?" he asked all of the sudden.

"He said he'd try to catch up. Apparently the Kazekage broke into the Hyuuga Compound and Neji is finding some miraculous way to clear his case. " Shino ignored his still glaring former teammate. "Don't you get tired at all the glaring, Kiba?"

"It's none of your business," growled Kiba.

"I can't believe my 200IQ was put to waste," Shikamaru sniffed. "Is he truly 1683?" The rest of them sourly nodded. "Mendoukusai."

"But seriously. Rokudaime-sama fits 1683's description. Just disregard the genin part," Shino pointed out. "I mean, his name is Uzumaki Naruto."

"Is he lively and caring?" asked Shikamaru.

"Yes."

"Kind?"

"When he wants to be."

"Always cheers everybody up?"

"There are some things he cannot hide."

"Mendoukusai," Shikamaru said the word as if it was a curse. "Now that you mentioned it, just how many guys are like the Rokudaime himself?"

Chouji patted him affectionately at the back. "It's okay. We were fooled as well."

"Now we have a bigger problem."

Kiba paused in gulping his drink. "What?"

"We have to capture the 1683, right? How are we supposed to seize him? That's treason!"


	11. The Talk

**Chapter XI**

Hyuuga Neji paused upon knocking on the wooden door, hand suspended on air. He didn't know why but his _Trouble_ instinct was tingling at the back of his mind. His _Trouble_ instinct never failed to save him from near-death situations and occasional life-changing ones as well. But then again, he had already been late for almost 3 hours now. Punctuality is Team Gai's code of honor---It would a big hit on his ego to actually be late. Then again, better be late than never.

In the end, he shrugged and disregarded all the warning signs flashing in his head as he turned the knob. "I'm sorry I was---," he was cut off as a tarpaulin, complete with falling confetti, boomed from up above. It read, 'Congratulations!!!!'

Before he could make a clear reaction, the tarpaulin swung sideways as Lee dragged him inside squealing, "NEJI-KUN!!!!" The Junior Green Beast of Konoha unceremoniously seated him at the head of the small table and took his seat beside the bewildered Neji.

On the other hand, who would have not be bewildered if all your colleagues are watching you with hawk eyes as though you were a goose about to lay a dinosaur egg?

"Let us begin," declared Shikamaru.

* * *

"We're finally here," said a man garbed in a black cloak. His tone was cheerful albeit reserve.

"Are you sure we are at the right place?" his companion replied in an authoritarian voice. Obviously, he needed an answer.

At that, the man smiled broadly. "As a matter of fact, I see Kakashi-sensei just outside."

The other man chuckled as he saw the familiar figure leaning discreetly on a nearby wall. With a lighter voice, he commented, "Konoha KTV Bar? Let us met them, shall we?"

* * *

"What is this?" Hinata stared blankly at the 8.5X14 cm paper held in front of her. From the writings on it, it appears to be a questionnaire of some sort.

Ino smiled brightly at her. "It's a form for my match-making business."

"Form?"

"It's a questionnaire about yourself and the guy you like," Temari explained. "Afterwards, Ino will find a guy who _nearly _fits your requirements and you two will have a date."

"Oh…" she scanned the paper again then returned it to Ino. "I'm really sorry but I can't do that."

Sakura grinned. "Trust Ino's choice in men. She may have a sucked up love life but her choice in men is amazing. They're too good to be true."

"Really?" Ino asked slyly.

"Of course," Sakura confirmed. She shifted her attention to Hinata. "So? How about it? Give it a shot."

Hinata, on the other hand, had her eyes downcast. "Well, it's not as if I don't trust Ino-san's instinct. It's just that…" She let her voice trail off, unable to speak the true reason.

Fortunately for her, Tenten was around Hyuuga Neji so much. "Hyuuga Laws 101?" The girls eyed at her and then back to Hinata who nodded.

"Hyuuga Laws 101?" inquired Temari.

"It's a set of unending rules made by her ancestor several years ago. It informs about proper conduct during Hyuuga ceremonies, the use of their bloodline limit, the duties and responsibilities of the Main and the Branch Houses, etc. etc," supplied Tenten. "It's worst than our laws, actually."

Ino blinked at her friend's knowledge. "Wow. I didn't know you had so much info regarding that kind of stuff."

"If you're the sparring partner of a stuck up jerk, you'll understand me someday. I never miss a day without him giving a hint about their customs and traditions," Tenten assured her. "Something wrong, Hinata? You look a little tense."

"How much do you know?"

Tenten searched her face for any sign of trouble and found a lot of them so she continued, "He only gives hints but as far as I remembered, he already rambled about the Section 8, No. 0981 and how unconventional your proposals are."

"Oh, dear…" She let out a relieved sigh. "You're safe, Tenten-san. Don't worry anymore."

Tenten frowned. "Why would I be worried?"

"I don't think you want to know."

"Okay," started Sakura. "Maybe it's time we go back to the neglected topic, Hinata. What made you turned down the request?"

"Oh… Um…" She paused to find a suitable answer. "Dates in my clan are only allowed when you're with your betrothed."

Temari raised eyebrows at that. "A date and a proposal are two different things. One is a ribbon, the other is a rope."

"My clan is a little bit old fashioned," she reasoned. "The 'Kunai Wedding' types. Besides, I don't think my father would agree. "

The girls gave shifty glances at each other signaling _Plan B,_ as they shared a secretive smiled.

"Well, then," Temari announced. "Let's get you home. Your father must be worried."

* * *

"Iced tea," Neji requested after he heard the whole story. Lee immediately went to his aid bearing a pitcher. He poured Neji a glass and handed it to his shaky hands. When he appeared to have composed himself, he set the glass down. "Could anyone please tell me what me what my cousin saw in our Hokage that she finds appealing up until now?" The boys were silent. "I take it no one knows."

Chouji, thankfully, answered, "I believe the term they use today is _love_. I will explain it in terms that your Mathematician-side will understand." From his pocket, he drew a mini-Cartesian plane and some colorful chalks. The boys squatted near him. Chouji, then, wrote love on the y-axis using a red chalk. "Mathematically, love overlaps the y-axis having the slope love is equal to y over zero. It follows the condition of a slope wherein if a line overlaps the y-axis, it will have the equation: line is equal to y over zero. And since any fractional number with the denominator as zero is considered undefined, therefore, love is undefined."

"Such language cannot be understand by my ninja comprehension," Kiba remarked miserably and began petting Akamaru.

"What if love overlaps the x-axis?" inquired Shino, obviously interested. Kiba glared at him. "You'll have severe eye infections if you continue to do that."

"So?"

Chouji chuckled and drew out a blue chalk. He wrote love on the x-axis. "If such a thing happens then love will follow the equation of a line where a line is overlapping the x-axis. It will have the equation: love is equal to zero over x. And since 0 divided by any number is equal to zero, love is equal to zero. Love is nothing. And we all know love is everything."

Lee clapped his hands, tears flowing freely on his cheeks. "Yosh, Chouji! That was so inspiring."

"Using the Cartesian plane to define love; couldn't describe that better." Sasuke shook his head. He shrugged and took a sip on his drink.

"Thanks, Chouji." Neji made a polite bow.

"That's alright. My pleasure to enlighten your minds," he replied. He smiled at Shikamaru who grimaced at the gesture.

Arms crossed, eyes closed, Shikamaru exhaled calmly. "Mind if I interrupt your recent discovery for a moment for just a little bite of _reality_? WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE TALKING ABOUT THE MISSSION!"

"You told us someone was going to tell it to 'he who we should not speak of'," said Lee.

"What?" exclaimed Neji. "How could you decide without me?"

"You were finding some miraculous way to save the Kazekage from the Hyuugas wrath. We didn't want you to stress yourself too much," Shikamaru answered smoothly.

"Not to mention Gaara-sama _is_ Temari's little brother," Kiba added.

"That too," Sasuke commended Kiba for that.

Shikamaru snorted but insisted on being on-topic. "As we have talked about, the _chosen one _has to have a close relation with both our targets. Then he has to be cool and composed because this will determine our fate and increase of salary. Then, there's his face, the angelic aura, not the talkative type, the total I-don't-care-but-I-care attitude-"

"Are you talking about me?" Neji cut him off, Byakugan activated.

"No, I was talking about Shino," clarified Shikamaru.

Shino nodded then froze. "What?"

"You'll tell it to him," he repeated. "You know, Hokage-sama and the whole 1683 drill together with the drastic details."

"Shino-kun, it's time to _shine_," cried Lee. "Go for gold!"

"But… I thought we were talking about Neji."

"Really?" Neji asked incredulously. "If my memory serves me right, I almost killed Hinata-sama."

"But… But…"

"You'll be fine," cheered Sasuke. "All you gotta do is telling it to him. How bad can that be?"

"And as consideration, I think I forgive you now." Kiba said, petting Akamaru, and was inwardly grinning at Shino's misfortune. "See, Akamaru. That's what happens when you do bad things to other people. Karma will get you one of these days. That's why, whatever you do, don't play bad jokes."

"Gee, thanks…" Shino sneered.

Kiba grinned broadly then he sniffed. "Something's coming."

Just then, the door opened and in came Kakashi, a smile formed on his masked face together with a hooded figure.

"Matta ku… It's so hot outside…" The figure dropped his cowl to reveal a familiar face. Sasuke glared at him but the man seemed to be composed. He gave the glare an equal smile. "Good evening, gentlemen."

"Well, I was calling Ichiraku and I saw these poor kids outside so I let them in," explained Kakashi.

"Sai-sama!" announced Shikamaru. They quickly stood and showed respect except for the Uchiha. Sasuke just stood rather grumpily.

'_Can't he just die of heatstroke outside?'_ Sasuke mumbled in his head. The advisor regarded him another smile, which meant he knows what the Uchiha had in mind. Sasuke inwardly scowled. Then something caught his attention. His eyes widened when he stared pass the two.

The others drop their jaws breathing, "Ho… Ho…"

"Hey! How's it going?" the other person entered. His grinned flashed at them, his sapphire eyes gleaming with joy. "Being hospitalized does wonders. I missed you guys!"

"Oh dear," Shino mumbled. For the first time in many years, Aburame Shino wanted nothing more than to kill the seven individuals painfully so.

* * *

_A city governed by the illumination of the pale blue moon was the inspiration of the red-haired demon as the gentle wind tossed the gentle leaves about. The demon was amazed that even in the light of the moon; he did not morphed into his hideous form. Still, slumber eluded him._

"What are you doing here?" an annoyed voice asked from behind, making the Kazekage startled a little.

He quickly hid the blue book he was working on and stared at the unexpected person. It was Hyuuga Hanabi, wearing one of the traditional Hyuuga robes, her hair swaying with the wind. She looked like the angel of redemption if not for that annoyed frown on her face. What did he do this time?

"I couldn't sleep," he replied nonchalantly.

Silently, she peered at this indifferent young man and wandered what her cousin saw in him. This person who called himself Yashamaru did not appear to be a slave. He had this aristocratic breeding in him, a sense of power and authority. She recalled the way her father and her cousin assessed this man with the absence of an audience and guard.

She stared at him for some moments then said, "And why is that?"

He looked uncertain but replied, "Habit." Then, he returned to his original position and stared the scene in front of him as if nothing happened.

Hanabi refused to have someone ignore her. She cleared her throat. "They said while you were here, you were looking for my sister. Is it safe to assume that you are one of her suitors and not my cousin's subordinate?"

"You make an excellent storyteller, my lady." For once, he felt a smile curving on his lips.

"And which one is the story: you are my sister's suitor or my cousin's subordinate?"

"I have no affection or whatsoever to your sister, my lady. Truth to be told, I have not seen her at all."

"What nonsense." As soon as she uttered her words, her companion disappeared from where he was seated.

"Then perhaps my memory needs to be refreshed," said a voice directly behind her.

She drew her breath suddenly to relax herself from the intimidating tone of his voice. "You _are_ a liar."

"I have not declared myself an honest man."

"Nor have you declared your true intentions."

He paused for a while, thinking of a better excuse. "Some secrets are better left unsaid."

"If my clan concerns your secret then I refuse to stand aside."

Gaara sighed in defeat. "It is not your clan that I seek but your heiress."

"I am correct," she said with a bit of a smile. "You are here to court her."

"No, I am not." He turned to her, eyes clearly saying he's stating the truth. "I am here to judge whether she's a rightful wife of a certain friend of mine."

* * *

"Achoo!" The Hokage sneezed rather unethically. He sniffed. "Man, someone talking about me."

Immediately the boys stopped their activities and stared at each other. No one dared to move, no one dared to lose eye contact. Shikamaru counted silently.

'_One… Two… Three…'_

They burst laughing. Whether they are laughing at themselves or the craziness of the events that followed, they do not know. It started when their boss wanted them to capture a man and all the links aimed at one man---their boss. How will they do it? They don't know. Every plan they come up with spells of one word: T-R-E-A-S-O-N.

_Treason:_ betrayal or disloyalty, treachery, act of deceit.

"Dumb," Kiba said gruffly though he continued to laugh. "Maybe some girl is fantasizing about making you the man of her dreams."

"Well, whoever she is, she'll be fairly disappointed. Hokage-sama already has his heart set on someone," said Sai.

"Sai!"

"I am saying the truth."

"Sh… Shocking," Neji replied fluently. "Have you ever wondered if she adores you as well?"

His cerulean was ashen by the statement. "No, that's impossible. She already told me she likes someone else." It didn't take them ten thousand brain cells to figure out that he was talking about Hinata. The boys eyed at Shino. Shino nodded.

"I think I'm gonna cry," Lee wailed at their misfortune. Chouji just patted his shoulder and offered a shoulder to cry on.

"Don't worry, Lee," said Naruto. "It's not your fault. I don't even know the guy she likes. But then if I did he'd probably be dead by now."

"Bloody little thing, aren't you?" said Kakashi. "I'll take it you'll do the honors."

"That's what you taught me."

The boys closed their eyes and envisioned a bloody Naruto stabbing himself repeatedly with a kunai. It was the only thing that made them smile that day. Their dream however left them raw as a knock reverberated throughout the room.

"Ichiraku Ramen House Delivery!" called a cheery feminine voice. "May I enter?"

"Thank God, the ramen is here!" exclaimed Naruto. He jumped enthusiastically to the door and opened it with much greater delight.

"Oh shocks…" said the delivery girl. Itachi stared at the people he'd be serving that night.

* * *

The girls parted quickly after Hinata and Temari took their leave. The remaining three decided to take a stroll across the park, enjoying the warmth of the night. They separated quickly after they reached the bend.

Sakura's mind was drifting farther and farther away with every step she took.

What was going on inside her head was what usually goes inside the head of a newly separated person. She grimaced at the term she used: _separated_---like some old spinster left by a life-long partner. But then, Rock Lee did promise to defend her 'til his last breath. Who would not be attracted to a guy like that?

Of course, he was not the most handsome person in the world or the most charming. Heck, he was and _is_ the farthest from being fashionable. Still, his determination to protect her combined with the ability to make her laugh made thinking of him…

Painful.

She shook her head. _I must be losing my mind._ She suddenly stopped cold when she realized where her feet had taken her: the bench where they talked last.

She smiled a painful smile. "I am losing my mind."

* * *

"Onee-chan, you're really cute!" said Kiba.

Itachi froze in the act of putting noodles in the bowl. _Oh, dear God! Please deliver me from these boys._ He forced himself to put on a smiling face and handed him the bowl. "Thanks." The younger man grinned at him.

Itachi sweat-dropped. Most of the time men gave him peculiar longing glances and puppy-dog eyes every time he is in this female form. Was it the long shiny jet-black hair tied to a low pony? Was it the obsidian eyes hid by owlish glasses? Was it the oval face, which was surprisingly a stark resemblance of his mother's?

Even his little brother was giving him strange glances. Either it was of speculation or desire, Itachi did not know. As a result, he avoided looking in their eyes for fear that they might finally realize the Ramen delivery girl all along was Uchiha Itachi.

"Hey, Onee-chan," called Lee. "Do you need help?"

"I can manage but thanks, anyway."

"Are you sure?" asked Chouji.

Itachi busied himself with the Ramen bowls. "Yes."

"So if I ask you for a date, when is your vacant?" asked Sai.

"Sai-sama!" the boys chorused. The man just winked at them and waited for the response.

That was Uchiha Itachi's most dreaded interrogative sentence. "I work 24/7."

The next question came form the Hokage. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Hokage-sama!" the boys chorused.

"I'm just asking if she has one."

"I have lots," said Itachi. Their attention shifted to him, eyes bearing shock. "I mean… Not precisely romantic-type of boyfriends but acquaintances that belong to the male species." He smiled when he looked up and handed them their Ramen.

"Thanks for the food!" they chorused.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Inori-chan, would you mind if I talk to you for a minute outside?" The boys gave him shifty glances and knowing looks, but he brushed them aside as he walked to the door.

"Sure Kakashi-san." He stood and followed the man. They went a little farther across the hallway until they were out of earshot. There, Hatake Kakashi no longer contained his laughter. He broke into loud guffaws.

"I would definitely appreciate it if you wouldn't overdo it, Kakashi-san." A large smoke gathered around Itachi as he transformed back to his original form.

The man replied in between his laughter, "I am so sorry. But you practically attracted those boys!"

"Not all," he reminded Kakashi. "Nara Shikamaru, Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Neji and Brother dear were silent all throughout the conversation."

"Shika-kun's practically engaged, Neji-kun's not feeling all jolly today, Shino-kun has other things in mind, and your brother dear is… I don't know what his problem is. But they do have their share of secret glances." He regarded Itachi with an analytical eye. "Nice glasses, by the way."

Itachi glared at him. "It won't be long before you will have eyes like these."

"I'm not _that_ old," Kakashi said a little too sternly.

"I hope we did not go outside just to talk about eyesight and your age, Kakashi-san."

"Hm? Oh yeah… I called you for the follow-up about that job in Mizu town. It turns out the deal was a great big scam. They're selling meat."

"Meat; you mean like beef, pork and chicken kind of meat?"

"The sexual meat."

Itachi stared at him for a moment. "I guess I'll stick with the Ramen business then."

"You made an excellent choice, young man."

"And you say you're not an old man." Itachi transformed back to his stunning feminine form. "We better go back inside else those kids will have greater assumptions."

"Sure Inori-chan."

* * *

"So," Naruto said in between his gulps. "What about the mission?"

They boys froze. Sai watched a brief wave of fear hit them. It nade hi chuckle but he didn't say anything.

"We have a lead," finally said Shikamaru.

"I see. Am I expecting any results soon?"

"Not really. We're still gathering information and making sure we get the right target," reasoned Shikamaru.

Naruto made a sound under his breath that he understood. They all mentally sighed in relief.

Shino chose this moment to speak, "Hokage-sama?"

"Yes?"

"What is Hinata to you?"

Everybody stilled their activities; some almost choked their Ramen. All gazes focused on the two as they wait for arrival of the answer. There was a heavy scent of fear, excitement and anticipation in the room that one would likely suffocate to kill the tension.

To their surprise, the Hokage smiled and gently laid his Ramen bowl on the table. "She's special."

"Special," Shino repeated the word as if it was foreign. The next question shocked the guys to their toes. "Like disabled or like a mutant?"

Naruto gave him an odd look. "She's as special as an Ichiraku Ramen."

"Only? Why not Large Portion Pork Miso Ramen like what you always order?"

"Shino, whether it is salad, ramen or meat bun, _special _is the most expensive and most delicious of them all."

"So you're comparing Hinata-sama to your Ramen bowl, Hokage-sama?" Neji concluded, giving his bowl a speculative glance.

"Yes, like you're comparing Tenten to your rice cooker." He winked when the Hyuuga colored a little. "Yours is different though. You would kill if somebody were to steal your rice cooker. I will die if my Ramen would cease to exist."

"Can anybody pass the salt?" Sasuke blurted out all of the sudden, completely destroying the mood.

"My! What a great way to change the topic, Sasuke-kun."

"It lacks salt, Hokage-sama." The Uchiha was referring to his Ramen.

Wanting to help, Sai rummaged the delivery bag. "They don't have salt but I think there's fish sauce." He brought out a bottle of amber liquid.

"Fish sauce?" asked Naruto.

"It's diluted salt in water," answered Shikamaru. "Perfectly harmless unless you treat it like sake and destroy your kidneys."

Sai spared him an appreciative glance before he deliberately threw the bottle to Sasuke. The latter caught it without breaking a sweat. They exchanged death glares and sneers at each other.

"Why are they glaring at each other?" inquired the Hokage.

"They are seeing their delectable qualities in each other and they realize that those qualities are not at all that nice, Hokage-sama," explained Chouji.

"I see."

Still glaring Sasuke drained half of the bottle in his bowl.

"Be careful. It's salty," warned Sai.

He sneered in reply. He slurped his Ramen to taste. He seemed to like it for he sprinkled some more. "This is nice."

Kiba sniffed. "It's diluted salt in water, right?"

"That's what Shikamaru said," replied Lee.

"Then how come I smell alcohol?"

"What?" From the munching Sasuke, Chouji grabbed the bottle and brought it to his lips. He gasped. "It's whiskey."

"Is it me or something is about to happen?" asked Sai.

Too late. Sasuke already drained his Ramen. When he finished, he dropped his bowl with a loud thump.

"To answer your question, yeah," said Naruto, looking very afraid right now.

"Sasuke has this strange side effect for alcohol," supplied Kiba.

"He goes crazy like Lee-san?"

"Worse."

Sasuke produced a loud hiccup, eyes droopy. Red colored his cheeks and a crazy smile formed on his lips. "Cuties!"

"He turns gay," whispered Kiba.

"Oh dear…"


	12. That Night and The Morning After

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

**A/N:** I have updated, and I have nothing to shield myself from your rants other than my sincerest gratitude. That and I'm sorry. I lost my muse. Took me three years to get it back! \(^o^)

I've made some changes with the previous chapters. They're not reallyt that important except the one which I added to explain why the Hyuugas didn't notice that Gaara is Gaara. _**He's wearing sand prosthetics**_. I also edited it on the last three chapters.

Anyways! This chapter will focus more on the plan and SasuSakuInoLee thingy! I have to do something about them. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter XII: That Night and the Morning After**

And thus, they had witnessed how the great Uchiha Sasuke murdered every single artist in the karaoke machine by transforming their hit songs into incomprehensible poems. The regular dictionary could never come up with adjectives to describe this horrendous performance. The boys came up a theory that perhaps when the good Lord showered musical talents among his people, Sasuke was busy hunting Itachi. Only Kiba and Sai seemed to be enjoying the fiasco though, seeing the way they cheered and took pictures of what was left of Sasuke's reputation.

About half an hour later, Kakashi-sensei and Inori entered the scene with stupefied looks on their faces. Sasuke welcomed them with a squeal accompanied by fly-away kisses. They found the boys on one corner of the room, cowering behind the make-shift shield they called table.

"Welcome to the music selection from hell," Naruto greeted them. The rest of the boys offered them with lackadaisical smiles, malfunctioning eardrums and ice-cold tea.

Itachi stared as his brother. He only had one explanation for this in his mind, and it involved alcohol and his crazy genes. _God, anything but this._ It was a good thing he was past puberty. He promptly excused himself, unable to stomach what is happening to his foolish little brother.

Kakashi stared at the fiasco that was Uchiha Sasuke, and shrugged. Calmly, he took a sip of his iced tea. He knew a long time ago that his dear student would eventually crack one of these days.

"_Hey! Hey! You! You! I don't like your girlfriend! No way! No way! I think you need a boy one! Hey! Hey! You! You! I could be your boyfriend!"_

"This is too much," Shino concluded.

"So," Shikamaru started. "How about we go home? It's getting _very _late." Everyone nodded in understanding, wanting to get away from the scene as soon as possible. They attempted to sneak quietly to the door, but their plan was futile. Sasuke noticed them right away.

"Aww~!" Sasuke whined. He jumped—no, flew to Neji's side and started tugging at the shoulder vigorously. "Neji-kun, sing with me," he said, with all the flowers, rainbows and puppies of the world.

Neji remained unfazed. "No, thank you," he replied smoothly. Byakugan activated, he hurled Sasuke to the far-off corner of the room.

"Somebody should take care of him," said Chouji staring at how Sasuke regained his consciousness with the stupid smile on his face yet again.

"I agree," said Shino. "He might molest someone along the way."

"So whose gonna take him home?" Naruto grinned as he asked the question.

"Not me!" they all said in perfect unison and attempted to get to the door.

He frowned. "Look, guys. I know he's acting a little bit more _feminine _than usual but he's still our same old friend."

"Hokage-sama, give me a kiss!" Sasuke practically squealed as he draped himself on Naruto' back. To prove his point, he puckered his lips, awaiting for the kiss.

Fortunately, Kakashi decided to intervene. With careful hands, he disengaged the intoxicated fellow from their seemingly mortified Hokage. "Now, Sasuke-chan, I think that's enough."

Sasuke grinned at him. "Kakashi-sensei, I love you more." He hugged Kakashi even closer. The Copy-nin was obviously trying very hard not to use Sharingan on him. But paternal instincts got better on him. With deft fingers, he unlocked Sasuke's hold on him.

"Thank you," Kakashi managed. "But you don't know how badly I didn't want to here that." He pressed on Sasuke's palm which made the boy drop unconscious. "All clear, gentlemen. The eagle has fallen. Asleep that is."

"You're so great, Kakashi-sensei!" Lee said with fists clenched and tears streaming down his face.

Kakashi beamed. "I know! And I shall be known in Shinobi History as the man who defeated Uchiha Sasuke!"

Sai smiled half-heartedly. "Kakashi-sensei, you're already known in Shinobi History. And there's already a guy who defeated Uchiha Sasuke before you." He gave an emphasis to their Hokage who was still under a state of complete distress after his ordeal with Sasuke.

Kiba patted him on the back, but erased the concerned look when he brought out the pictures he took a while ago. "But still, the whole Konoha will be distraught once they see these." Kiba emitted an evil laugh.

"Kiba-kun!" Kakashi took the pictures. "How much each?"

"For you sensei: fifty percent discountable."

Naruto chose that moment to clear his throat. "Let's change the subject, shall we? Who'll take Sasuke home?" When no one answered, he growled. "Fine, who's broke?" Lee and Shikamaru proudly raised their hands. "How much bushy-brows?"

Lee paused for a moment. "30,000 ryou."

"Alright Sai, the scroll," he ordered. His advisor politely summoned one as well as a brush and ink. "Lee and Shikamaru, D-rank mission: Take Uchiha Sasuke home and be with him until he's sober. The rest of you bring out 30,000 ryou _each_. And yes, that includes you Sai." They all grunted in chorus but know better than to go against their Kage.

"Are checks allowed?" Sai asked. When Naruto approved, he quickly wrote one.

"I didn't know you were penniless, Lee," Neji muttered under his breath.

"Love can be financially constraining," he replied.

"And it's very troublesome," Shikamaru quickly added.

"It is?" The question unexpectedly from Naruto that everyone paused in whatever they were doing. They waited for the genius' answer with unabashed patience.

"Yes, it does," said Shikamaru. "Most of the time, it asks too much of you like it's about to wring your neck out, like your not even trying hard enough. It's very frustrating, you know."

"Oh…" Naruto looked away from for a moment.

"But, you shouldn't worry so much, Rokudaime-sama!" said Lee, his trademark smile and thumbs up in place. "After all, love isn't measured by the number of cuts you have but by the number of wounds you're willing to endure."

"Then I must be the king of endurance," Shikamaru concluded.

* * *

Upon reaching the gates, they were greeted by the Hyuuga guards. They cast wary eyes at Temari. She wasn't really in the mood to brush those looks aside so she said to Hinata, "Are your guards like this all the time?"

Hinata, startled by her clansmen's reaction, spoke softly, "Ren-san, I would suggest you stop staring at her like that. She's Temari-san, Kazekage-sama's sister."

"I apologize, my lady," Ren said. "It's just that a fellow Sand ninja arrived a little while ago and created quite a ruckus."

Temari raised an eyebrow "Sand ninja? Why would a Sand ninja come here?"

"I heard that he was under the order of the Kazekage himself, and that he's Neji-san's subordinate. No one really knows much about him, my lady," said Gozaburo.

"And he's name?" inquired Hinata.

"He goes by the name Yashamaru, my lady."

Temari's eyes widened a bit before narrowing into dangerous slits. "I don't recall any Yashamaru on the same trip as us. I would like to see this _Yashamaru _of yours_._"

* * *

She didn't know how long she sat there thinking about her frustrated love affair, but Sakura already made up her mind. She realized that she needed a lot of things.

She needed to end this once and far all. She had been deluding herself far too long, and it was not helping her. She needed to be fearless. She needed to be free. She needed closure.

She needed to talk to Uchiha Sasuke and Rock Lee right now. With a smile of her face, she sprinted her way to Sasuke's pad first.

* * *

Hinata stayed by Temari's side as one of the Hyuugas went to fetch this so called _Yashamaru_. If the person they're about to deal is spy using the name of the Kazekage, then it was best to be by Temari's side. She wanted to be there to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed.

Temari didn't bother to hide her annoyance. Granted, it wasn't really in her character to hide anything that annoyed her—except in missions—but this situation was different. She knew it wasn't in her brother's character to assign random ninjas to spy. He's secretive, yes. But he opens up whenever something bothers him.

Someone _dared_ to use her brother's name. And she vowed to find out.

Minutes later, a Hyuuga appeared with a young man bearing the Sand insignia. Hinata studied him carefully. He did not appear harmful. If anything else, his face looked positively angelic. Hinata noted that he was looking intently at her as well, as if assessing her. And then his gaze shifted to Temari. She followed the suit.

Hinata watched how Temari open and close her mouth, and blink for a couple of times. She appeared—much to Hinata's surprise—shocked as she stared back at this man.

Frowning, she asked, "Temari-san, do you know this person?"

That question caused Temari to snap out of the stunned state she found herself in. Clearing her throat, she replied, "Yes, in a way."

"So, is this person a ninja of Suna?" she added, hesitant with the unknown tension surrounding the room.

"He is," Temari answered right away. She noticed a flash of hesitation flash across Hinata and she mentally scolded herself for answering too quickly. "He's a trusted ninja of Suna, I assure you." Hinata nodded in understanding. Temari was thankful that she didn't pry some more. "Excuse me, Hinata but would you mind to leave us for a while? There is this thing that I want to discuss with him."

"I understand. I'll bring tea afterwards." Whatever they were about to discuss, Hinata was sure it was pure business.

Temari waited until she was out of hearing range before she lashed out at Gaara. "What in the world do you think you're doing?"

"Data gathering," Gaara answered as-a-matter-of-factly. "I wanted to find out who this Hyuuga Hinata that Uzumaki Naruto is so fond of."

"Look. I don't usually interfere with whatever you do but this is ridiculous."

"Why?"

Temari felt a headache coming out any moment. "You do realize that you almost compromise the whole peace treaty because of your data gathering, right?"

"No one noticed. Also, Hyuuga Neji is an excellent ninja when it comes to keeping confidential matters such as these."

"Fine," Temari said defeated. She took a deliberate number of breaths to calm herself. "And what have you found out so far?"

"Nothing. The members of this clan are not feeling to divulge any information regarding her. But when it comes to first impressions…" Gaara let his voice trailed off as he tried to find the words. "She seems rather _plain_."

She decided to disregard the comment—mainly because she somewhat in conformity to it and partly because she didn't want to press any further. "How long do you intend to stay?"

"Until tomorrow morning," he answered flatly. "You can make excuses for me, right?"

"I suppose I could." Temari looked away; still unsure of what his brother is thinking. It just wasn't like him to be this impulsive. But he is her brother. She made her mind up that she would help him regardless of how troublesome that was.

Light footsteps broke the silence that they found themselves into as Hinata came back bearing tea. With a smile, she entered the room and began preparing the tea. "Are you finished with your talk?"

Temari nodded back at her, smiling. She drank half of her cup before saying, "Hinata, I'll be going back now. It's getting late."

"I'll escort you to the gates."

"No, don't. I'm sure one of the other Hyuugas could do it. Stay here." Proving her point, she quickly found one who was wandering outside the room and persuaded him to take her to the gates. With a bow, she left the two occupants of the room.

An uncomfortable silence followed afterwards. Gaara was contemplating whether to speak or to go away. He did neither and it made him uncomfortable some more. Silently, Hinata poured a cup of brewed tea and offered it to him. Gaara stared at it.

"The tea would be put to waste. Might as well drink it," she said.

He bowed his head slightly and accepted the steaming cup. "Thank you," he said, and he looked away from her. This was the first time he was alone with a woman, except for his sister. Gaara never felt more unsettled in his life. "Does Temari spend time with you often?"

"Not really." He heard her reply. "Most of the time Temari-san is with Shikamaru-san. But we bonded eventually because of her numerous trips here. Temari-san is a very nice person."

"She doesn't intimidate you?" He decided to study her reaction to that.

With a calm voice she added, "There are many times when she's not afraid to speak up her mind. But we can't help it because it is in her character." Hinata seemed amused, much to Gaara's surprise. "Temari-san doesn't care about title, that's why spending time with her always seems natural."

Gaara couldn't help but agree. He noticed that he did not feel that anxious anymore. This person managed to cast all his inhibitions away, not because she was saying things he liked to hear but because she was saying things sincerely. Although he had just met her moments ago, he could bet that this person would not lie to him.

After considering it for a moment, Gaara asked the ultimate question. "My lady, what is the Hokage to you?"

Hinata might as well choke her drink. She produced a fitful of coughs. Gaara noted that she was reddening a little more than what was supposed to be. He couldn't understand why she was acting this way. Flustering, she asked, "Why did you suddenly asked that?"

"I… I was just curious because I have never met a man like Uzumaki Naruto before." It was true anyway.

Settling her cup down, she started playing with her fingers. "The Hokage… He… He's a very powerful person."

"Uh huh…"

Hinata mentally scolded herself. She would not sully Naruto's name because of that. Eyes downcast, she continued, "He's also a very responsible and hard-working person. He serves as a foundation and inspiration to Konoha. He's very dedicated to the village. He values everyone of this village, and is willing to give his life for them; although he does like to play pranks on people especially on his advisors. He complains everyday about the papers he's supposed to sign but uses his Kage-Bunshins to do his tasks much more quickly. He loves this village very much, although he would rather talk about ramen than political affairs. He's a very amazing in more ways than one."

"You like him don't you?"

"For a very long time," she admitted.

"Why don't you tell him then?"

Smiling, she shook her head. "I don't really think that's possible. He's the Hokage and I'm—"

"The heiress of the most powerful clan of this village," he continued for her. Hinata could but only stare at him. "There are no hindrances, if ever."

"That is true but suppose," she replied. "Suppose he doesn't feel the way? If I were to confess then it would change everything between us."

Gaara did not let his confusion show at that. He could only conclude that love is indeed a troublesome thing, especially if the other person does not know of it. He was not an expert on advices but he was sure this one would help her.

"My lady, if you don't mind I would like to share with you this saying from my village." Hinata looked up at him. "True love is fearless."

She gaped at him. "Th-thank you for that," she said politely, stuttering a bit. She quickly noticed that they were with their tea. Time sure flew fast for them. "Well, I think it's time for us to retire for the night."

Gaara noticed as well, and nodded in understanding. Quietly, he helped Hinata with the cupsand carried the tray for her.

As they were walking, Hinta let the words drift to her._ True love is fearless_. She recalled a long time ago when she vowed to never settle for anything less than true love.

* * *

This was probably one of the moments Shikamaru wished he wasn't a well-known ninja in the village. He couldn't possibly be a _cool adult_ like he always wanted if he was walking with Lee and Sasuke, especially if the latter was draped so casually on Lee's back. Some of the villagers couldn't help but smile and laugh at the picture they make.

This really was the most troublesome D-rank mission they had. Ever.

"Shikamaru-san."

Shikamaru spared him a glance. "Yep?"

"Sakura-san and I… We… We just had our first argument." Eyes downcast, Lee looked positively disheartenedand ashamed of himself. Shikamaru silently snickered at him. He wanted to say that it's about time for them to have one— because he believed that every single couple should atleast fight once a month or the relationship isn't healthy. But he knew better than to say that. Lee really loved Sakura, and he would never do anything to hurt her. He was probably having an internal conflict.

Love is so troublesome, he thought.

"Look, there are three things that I learned about women because of Temari." When Lee made a move to grab his notebook, Shikamaru stopped him. "Don't write them. Memorize these with your heart." He mentally noted that Lee looked at him as though what he was about to say was the core foundation of true love. It freaked it somewhat so he quickly burned the memory.

"One, women are always right even if you know they're wrong. Don't ever contradict that. Two, whenever they're in a bad mood, never talk back to them because usually they don't listen. And when they do, they're about to vent all their frustration to you. And three, the most important of all, always be first to say sorry even if there is nothing to be sorry about."

Lee gaped at him in awe. "Wow, Shikamaru-san."

Minutes after their talk, they arrived at where Sasuke resided. Shikamaru made Lee carry Sasuke immediately to his unit, while he went to the reception to get the spare key. Sasuke left his key at home. Lee thought they really didn't need it since they were ninjas and lock-picking was a piece of cake for them, but Shikamaru said something about the troublesome building alarm system for lock picks. Sasuke lived in a very private building, much to their chagrin.

And so, there they were sitting on the cold floor as they rested their backs on the front door of Sasuke's unit. He was with his ultimate rival for love, Uchiha Sasuke, who was silently snoozing at his side, head propped on his shoulder. A highly-skilled ninja who was trained with the best of the bests—Lee thought that he had no chance of winning with this handsome piece of flesh and blood, regardless of how nice and pleasing the personality he has. And that was the only thing he knew he had that Sasuke didn't—a pleasing personality.

He knew long ago that it took more than pleasing personality to please the woman you love.

But Lee is determined. He may not be the as great of a ninja as Uchiha Sasuke, but he could make Sakura smile. And for that, he would not give up the fight just yet.

"Sasuke-kun," he said to the sleeping fellow, "I wouldn't give her to you that easy."

To his surprise, the man roused from his slumber and stared directly at him. Lee's eyes widened at the thought that he heard what he said. But he is a man. He would never back down on his word. That had always been his ninja way. So Lee stared back, and wished he could tick the other man off like what he did to several unknown ninjas of the past.

He was prepared to fight for the love of his life until his last breath.

It never crossed him that Sasuke would grab his head with both hands. He thought that perhaps it was going to be a head-butt so he prepared himself. He had a thick skull, he knew, so he might survive.

It never crossed him that Sasuke would kiss him, until their lips met.

* * *

Downstairs, Shikamaru got the key from the land lady after explaining that their drunken friend left his key locked up inside his pad. He was about to go upstairs when Sakura barged in.

"What are you doing here?" They asked in unison.

Shikamaru decided to answer first. "I'm on a troublesome D-rank mission from our Kage. You?"

"I need to talk to Sasuke and Lee." She sounded like she out of breath.

Shikamaru frowned. "Well I'm not sure if you could talk to Sasuke right now, but Lee's upstairs." Sakura looked skeptical so he told her about the ramen incident and their supposed-to-be mission. After the explanation, they went directly upstairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sakura in deep thought. Shikamaru concluded that perhaps it had something to do with the argument that Lee was so troubled with. He knew that women didn't like it when someone talks about their love life, but he also knew that Sakura needed to hear this one from him.

As they walked their way on the stairs, he said them mildly, "Lee's a good guy." The words were plain and simple, but they were true. They gave some sort of a light mood for the two. She managed to smile a bit, and nodded in agreement. Shikamaru knew she would give contemplation on that, and he was glad for that.

But when they reached their destined floor, the light mood quickly disappeared. The building was built in a way that the end of the stairs was facing directly to the units. Coincidentally, the same staircase they were standing on ended with it directly facing Sasuke's pad. There was Sasuke and Lee by a front door kissing passionately.

The first thing that came to Shikamaru's mind was "Oh my God." The second thing was that the kiss somehow reminded how of those on Ino's Korean DVD collection she made the boys watch on one torture session. The third thing was that Sakura was on his side and that he needed to stop her from potentially killing the two.

Too late, because Sakura already landed a punch on Sasuke's face. Shikamaru watched as the guy crashed to the nearby wall. Said wall was destroyed in the process, but Sakura didn't seem to care as she continued to beat the life out of Sasuke. She was screaming profanities as well, coming up with new words and interesting combinations. He couldn't help but wince. He took baby steps to Lee, who was clearly in a state of complete shock.

Shikamaru nudged him. "Are you okay?"

Lee blinked, and then touched his lips. "Was that his tongue?" he said absent-mindedly.

Those were all the words he needed to hear to take steps away from Lee. From his side, Sakura dropped the bleeding Sasuke and shriek—at the highest tone Shikamaru ever heard—before giving a rough punch on Lee's stomach. Several punches followed after that.

After that, she went to Shikamaru's side. In her deadliest tone, she warned him, "Don't call the hospital or those two will never see sunlight again." With a stifled cry, she exited swiftly.

Shikamaru's glance shifted from Sasuke to Lee before he hit the speed-dial. After a few rings, his call was answered, "Chouji, mind coming over to Sasuke's place for a sec? And bring Ino's ointment please. I need you right now buddy."

* * *

Chouji took a quick look from the demolished wall, to the knocked down tandem of Sasuke and Lee, and to the recently scolded Shikamaru—courtesy of the landlady— before he asked, "What happened here?"

"Sakura," Shikamaru muttered. With words of troublesomeness, he briefly explained how he met Sakura, what had transpired and how she beat the two guys to a pulp.

Chouji had no words to say. In silence, the two inspect Sasuke and Lee for any broken bones or vital organs. After they had found out that there were no harmful damages done other than sore muscles, they proceeded to carry the two into Sasuke's apartment. They placed the two far from each other to assure that the incident would not be repeated. They locked Sasuke in his room to be sure.

"Sasuke owes me 60,000 ryou for this," Shikamaru said a little while later when they made themselves comfortable at the living room area.

Chouji nudged him playfully for that and handed him a mug of hot chocolate. "By the way, why didn't you call Ino? She'd be very useful here, you know."

"Thought of that," he replied, sipping on his cup. "But then I also thought Sakura would go to her after what happened so I changed my mind."

"Good point."

"Women are really troublesome."

"Big time."

"That Hokage always gives the most troublesome missions."

His friend chuckled. "By the way, what are we going to do about the other mission?"

"Oh, right…" Shikamaru sighed. "I thought of a plan and we already agreed that Shino will be the chosen one. The problem is how we're going to execute it…"

And thus, they had spent the night analyzing their next moves. It had to be fool-proof because their heads were at stake.

* * *

Sasuke woke up the next morning with his head feeling like it weighed a thousand pounds. His body was aching as well. It was difficult, but he managed to crack his eyes open. He stared at the familiar surroundings of his room. He tried to remember how he got home but found out he couldn't.

He got up, wincing and wondering why his body hurt so much, and strode out of his room. He found Shikamaru, Chouji and Lee in his kitchen, all drinking cocoa and eating pancakes.

Lee was the first to notice him, dropping his fork and staring at him with gooey eyes. "Sasuke-kun, good morning" he said, blushing as he did so.

"What are you all doing here, how did you get in, and why is Lee blushing?" He felt his headache intensified a little.

"Relax," started Shikamaru. "You might as well sit down because I'm not really sure you'll handle the details very well."

Sasuke did as he was told and took a seat. Chouji offered him pancakes which he accepted. He took a sip of cocoa before looking at Shikamaru.

Shikamaru cleared his throat. "We're here because you mistakenly took sake last night and you got drunk."

Sasuke knew where this was heading. He groaned. "Oh no… What did I do?"

"You called us cuties, started singing on the karaoke machine, flirted with Neji, tried to kiss Naruto-sama, then dropped unconscious because of Kakashi-sensei," he narrated.

"You forgot to mention he kissed Lee in front of Sakura," said Chouji. "And that Sakura beat them up."

"Chouji! I was gonna go easy on that one!"

"Sorry…"

"I didn't…" Sasuke could but stare at Lee, waiting for the moment when he would say that the two were only joking.

"There was tongue involved," muttered Lee, reddening much more.

Sasuke felt the weight of the world being drop to him in full force. He banged his head on the table top. "God, I hate my genes _so much_." He groaned in frustration.

"Well, the good news is we thought of a plan!" beamed Shikamaru.

Sasuke raised his head and glared daggers of death, doom and destruction at him. "You are not getting applause for that."

* * *

**A/N: **I have finished. The following are random but these are my thoughts as I was writing the chappie.

1. My first kiss as a writer is SasuLee. My SasuSakuLeeIno love polygon has gone wild! And no, they won't be together at the end, don't worry.

2. Shikamaru is officially my love doctor. Lolz.

3. Gaara is a NaruHina supporter!

4. Writing with music helps!

5. They are going to get Naruto in the next chapter.

Thank you for reading! And sorry for the long wait!


	13. The Kidnapping

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

**A/N:** I have updated, because I have time. Blame my school and all its unreasonable assignments and paper works. Thank you for those who reviewed! I've appreciated every comment. Electronic cookies and kisses for you all! ^_^ On with the story, although this particular update is quite short. I'm happy with it anyway.

* * *

**Chapter XIII: The Kidnapping**

For the first time in a long time, Ino had absolutely no idea what to do. Her best friend came in yesterday (or rather last night) at an ungodly hour of 12 am, hair helplessly mused and face drenched with heartbroken tears. She ran from across the town, she told her, and witness what any woman would have called the revelation of the century. She was sitting there on their family shop's counter, briefly wondered how on earth gay men multiply when they were incapable of reproduction in the first place.

Her only consolation was that at least the guy she had been pinning for quite sometime ran off with his wife. But she was careful not to let Sakura know that.

Speaking of Sakura, she cried until she slept that night. Her eyes must be puffy like strawberry puffs right now. It's a good thing they were medical ninjas. They can go from heartache to another without the evidences that they cried the night away.

The door leading to their house opened and as if on cue, Sakura entered her line of vision. She looked murderous and tired, which was perfectly understandable, but there wasn't any trace of a night full crying fit from her face.

"Slept well?"

Sakura nodded. "I better go. I have hospital duties today."

"Don't you want to stay over for breakfast?" Ino offered.

"Thanks, but I'll grab a bite there," was her reply. Sakura paused to contemplate on something, before she hastily added, "And thanks for last night."

"I never said anything."

"I know." With a bit of a smile, she left the flower shop feeling less under the weather. If this happened when they were still younger, Sakura would have been crying like crazy, Ino would be reprimanding her for her behavior and the two would have fought like crazy.

It's a good thing they matured over the years.

A little while later, the flower shop's bell hummed its distinctive chime as Kiba and Shino entered. The former left his pet outside the shop with promises of dog food and meaty bones for lunch, while the latter left his bugs outside to prevent them from swarming the flowers. They were particularly attracted to anything colorful and sweet smelling.

"Morning, Ino," Kiba greeted. "You're looking quite beautiful today.

Ino smiled, amused that Kiba still find that comments like those affect her when he smell like horse radishes and cucumber in the morning. "Good morning, Kiba. How's your bath?"

"Still waiting at home," he answered automatically. "I was called upon by Supreme Intelligence so I didn't have the chance to enjoy it."

"Excuse him if his scent stings the very air you breathe, Ino," Shino said smoothly. Kiba glared at him rather sharply. He was always been proud of his scent because he finds it unique and believes that it's an asset. His friends never bothered to correct him anymore that this philosophy only applies to the lesser creatures of the Animal Kingdom.

"It's okay. I'm used to it. So what brings you two to our lovely little flower shop?"

"The lovely little flowers," Kiba said.

"And the key to your interrogation room," Shino added.

Ino turned a sharp eye on the both of them. "You're not planning something illegal, right?" They just smiled angelically, but she could see beyond those boyish grins that they were up to something big. "Well, if you want to use my interrogation room, you have to buy the flowers of the shop – all of them."

Shino already brought out his wallet. "Sure. How much are the flowers?" Ino handed out the bills and the two stopped cold as they stared at the number of zeros accompanying a number three.

"Don't we get a discount?" Kiba looked hopeful.

* * *

In the end they did get a discount, but the price was still beyond their annual income combined. As they trudge the streets of Konoha with a bandwagon of flowers, they found solace in the fact that they _might_ get their money back with the mission's payment—hopefully.

They reached Sasuke's pad with heavy hearts and empty wallets, with the rest of the crew eyeing at their colorful and flower scented surprise.

Shikamaru and Chouji looked at each other and said in unison, "Ino."

"She's good," Shino praised while he threw the offending key—that got them to this financial predicament in the first place—to Shikamaru. He also handed the receipt for the flowers, and watched how Shikamaru's face colored the same as that of the paper.

Kiba sat, and busied himself with a bunch of cookies to increase his happy hormones. He noticed Lee staring at Sasuke and frowned. "What's wrong with Lee?"

Their resident taijutsu artist blushed of three different shades of red, and muttered something unintelligently.

Kiba frowned deeply, and shifted his gaze to Neji who was staring at Lee as well. Neji always knew everything.

As if reading his mind, Neji said, "Much to your surprise, Kiba, I actually don't know."

Blasphemy

Hearing his little dilemma, Chouji provided the answer. "He was kissed by a boy and he liked it."

"No…" Kiba managed. Beside him, Neji's eyes widened like Chinese saucers. Even Shino was surprised. "Who?"

"Sasuke-kun."

Kiba and Neji stared at Sasuke and then at Lee and finally at each other. "Oh," they said together. Sasuke cursed Chouji darkly.

"What? You kissed everyone in this room already. It's bound to happen to Lee," Chouji rectified.

Kiba propped his chin on both hands and decided to amuse himself. "So how did your kiss with Lee felt like?"

"I would have provided you with a colorful definition if I could remember. Unfortunately, I couldn't so back off, Inuzuka." Sasuke glowered at him in a way that would make any man run across the country and change his citizenship. Kiba seemed immune though, and that made Sasuke glower even further. "Jealous?"

"Not in this lifetime, dude, so chill," Kiba turned to Lee. "So how did your kiss with Sasuke felt like?"

"It was good. He has a very good technique," Lee managed looking cute and mortified at the moment. Kiba should have been a member of the interrogation corps. He'd make Ibiki proud.

"Let's stop at that," Shikamaru announced when he had recovered. "Since we have the key, we will proceed with Phase 2 of the plan. Any questions regarding your positions?" They all shook their heads.

"Good, then its time to end this."

* * *

It was a beautiful morning. As usual, Naruto started his day by watering his beloved cactuses sitting on the windowsills of his office. His subordinates never bother to point out why every window of the room was filled with needle skinned plants. They rationalized that perhaps their Hokage needed extra protection against invaders, or it's a hobby, or he's just procrastinating. Most of them placed their bets on the last one.

Naruto beamed as he finished his daily chore and glanced forlornly at the sets of scrolls and documents he had to check and recheck for the day. He prayed that something would distract him from this utter nuisance of legal documents and political credentials. But alas, he was never a lucky fellow.

A knock resonated at the grand oak doors. Or perhaps he was.

"Come in," he said, not bothering to contain the delight in his voice. When the doors opened and his visitors came in, Naruto smile brightened three-fold. "Hey-,"

He never managed to complete his sentence. All he remembered was a loud thud of the doors closing, a sharp stinging pain on the back of his neck, and a steel arm wrapped across his midriff, before the world became black.

* * *

The first thing that came to his mind when he woke up was that his head felt like crazy hell, probably due to the blow he received earlier. The second thing was that he had a strong urge to mutilate the very people that caused his headache. The third thing – much to his chagrin – was that he was currently tied to a chair and his arms are behind him. He cracked an eyelid open.

The place he was in was very familiar. In fact, he wanted to curse the heavens at the familiarity. He was in the Konoha Special Interrogation Room, tightly secured by chakra binding ropes and what not the Interrogation Corp had to offer.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," one of his captors emerged from the shadows and entered his line of vision. He stood directly in front of him. "How was your day?"

"I had a very fine morning." Naruto emphasized on had.

His captor didn't change his expression. "I'm assuming you did. How are your cactuses?"

"They were looking so beautiful today." He didn't bother to elaborate on he subject. "In fact, I want to test the fact if a person could really die from cactus stings. Would you care to be a test subject?"

"No, I don't," his captor clarified. As he cleared his throat, he decided to change the subject. "Did you know that that the small dot on top of the small letter i and j are called title?"

"No. And I don't care."

"Oh…" It was a nice trivia, anyway.

"Shino," he managed to say, injecting as much decency as he could. "Could you please explain to me the meaning of all these before I wring the life out of you?"

He appeared to be somewhat confounded, but knowing Shino, it was probably just a trick of light.

"We assure you that everything we do is strictly professional and all part of the mission."

"What mission?"

"Locating Mr. 1683," he clarified. "The mission was to capture him and bring him to you. We only have a few minutes before the guards become suspicious so I'm going to make this quick." Seeing that Naruto looked positively miffed, Shino saw his chance and went directly on the point, "Mr. 1683 is you."

A pregnant silence ensued, before Naruto burst out laughing, his voice reverberating on every corner of the darkened room. When he was finished, his expression changed that of a boy who had lost his first puppy. Shino found that absolutely remarkable.

"Seriously?"

"I don't joke."

Shino looked offended, but Naruto was passed the point of caring. "Are you sure?"

"We are ninety nine point nine percent sure, Hokage-sama. You are Uzumaki Naruto. You've been with her during the contact period that you have provided us. Our intelligence reports tell us that your Ninja Registration Number is 012607, the same registration number that Mr. 1683 apparently has. And although it was hard, we finally came into an agreement that you are lively, kind, caring and willing to cheer everybody up." Shino paused, not sure if he was to continue.

"Hold one second. What's the remaining point one percent?"

"Shikamaru thought we should include the number of people that are like you. We concluded that since they only comprise of point one percentage of the whole assessment, they can be negligible."

"But there is still a point one percent chance that it's not me."

Although it did not show, Shino was an inch close on using his bugs to snap some sense into the blond. He was either a hopeless idiot, or completely blind fool. Or both.

"There is one more reason," Shino said, like providing a lifeline in one of those late night game shows for clueless individuals.

"What's that?"

"The fact that we are all aware of her feelings for you," Shino dropped the statement like an ultimatum.

"But why me?" Naruto asked bitterly.

"I guess when you're in love, you think that that person is awesome, even if he's not worthy of the word." Shino quickly added, "But I still think you're awesome."

His Hokage stared at him with such sparkling eyes that reminded Shino of how cute Akamaru was when he was still a puppy.

"Thanks, Shino. But why are you the only one telling me all this?"

"Because Shikamaru is a jerk and everybody else are wussies," Shino reasoned out. It was true anyway.

* * *

Reviews?


	14. The Foil in the Plan

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

**A/N: **After a very long break, I come bearing a chapter. I just graduated from college, and remarkably, the series is still not done! Wow!

A lot has happened since my absence, Jiraiya died, Itachi died, Sasuke became a douche, to point out a few. But hopefully, you'd still be able to enjoy my offerings to the fandom. I would just like to thank everyone who read the story, especially those who have reviewed, and much more for those who have stay tuned for almost 6 years now. I will always be eternally grateful for all of your support. ^_^

God bless! Stay happy.

* * *

**Chapter XIV: The Foil in the Plan**

While Shino conducted the inevitable yet much prolonged revelation of the century, the jerk and the wussies – more collectively known as "his friends" – sat idly by Sasuke's living room while eating each a piece of rhubarb pie. The pie was in honor of the success of their mission. Typically they should start attacking it when Shino arrives and delivers the good news, but they decided not to wait for him anymore, because they know that he would come bearing good news.

Konoha-nins were awesome like that; it should be their village's tagline.

"Not everyone wants a piece of pie that has already fallen to the ground," Kiba mused as he took another munch on his piece.

"Of course," Neji answered. "By then, it's covered by germs."

"There are still people who abide by the 5-minute Rule," said Lee, scrunching his nose. "I don't follow it, though. 5 minutes or 10 minutes, it's still dirty."

"Amen," agreed Sasuke.

"There is a theory, though, that food that fell from the table is actually clean," Shikamaru voiced out suddenly. Chouji gave him an approving glance but did not look up from his pie.

"You're kidding." Sasuke frowned. Beside him, Neji and Lee frowned as well, unable to believe what they just heard. They were raised to believe that everything dropped to the floor were considered contaminated. The floor was dirty, riddled with germs, so naturally, anything that touches it or has come in contact with it were also dirty and riddled with germs.

Shikamaru pressed the topic further. "In theory, the microorganisms, like the rest of the animal species, have a fear of falling objects. They're afraid of getting squished, so naturally, they try all their best to avoid it."

The boys contemplated on the given subject, before shrugging it off their heads. "We don't buy it," they chorused, and proceeded to eat their pie.

Shikamaru smirked. "I don't buy it either."

"What are you not buying?" Shino appeared out of nowhere and took the empty seat. When he saw the rhubarb pie, he paused, eyeglasses glinting dangerously on the half-eaten pie on the table. "Have you started celebrating without me?"

The boys quickly came up with lame excuses of hunger, boredom and just how awesome Shino was that they left the biggest part for him. Even Chouji was repressing his own cravings. But then, much to their surprise, Shino shrugged and ate in silence.

Six years of being friends with these people had taught him to care more for their happiness and less of their lack of concern over his person. They cared for him when it mattered the most. They just had odd ways of showing it, especially by pretending he never existed.

"So, how was it?" Shikamaru was the first to ask.

Shino cleared his throat and recounted the episode that had transpired. He recalled that the mission was a success. He was able to isolate the Hokage inside the interrogation room where he flat out told his superior that the person they were hunting down was him, Uzumaki Naruto, and no one else.

"And that was where I left," Shino finished his story and his pie, wiping his face with a napkin. "I'm sorry I have not discussed with Naruto-sama about the rewards of the mission. He seemed to be in deep thought. And so I left."

"Wait, you left him?" clarified Lee, eyes wide. "Alone?"

Shino nodded, unperturbed by his statement. "He appeared to be in need of a deep contemplation. But I did unlock the room, so he's free to leave after he is done. Have I done something wrong?"

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow and turned to Sasuke. "Saucy, what do you think?"

Sasuke grimaced at his nickname and growled, "Why me, Shika-kun?"

"You are the official best friend," Shikamaru reasoned out. "And no matter how much I try, I cannot understand what goes on in Naruto-sama's mind. Well? Uzumaki Naruto is left alone to contemplate. What can you say?"

Sasuke took a sip of water before he replied. "I think that _Uzumaki Naruto_ and _contemplate_ should not be used in a sentence, especially with a modifier like _alone_, else he'd do something drastic."

"For once, I agree with him," Neji concurred with a nod.

"Me too," said Chouji.

It was Kiba who laughed at them for their nervousness. He chided them playfully. "It's the Hokage we're talking about. It's not like he'd kidnap Hinata and ignite a civil war in the village just to get a confession out of her."

It was then that they heard a big explosion followed by a chorus of shouts and gasps from the pedestrians passing by. There was a simultaneous turning of heads, as they peered over the glass window where they saw an appearance of what seemed like a giant wall of sand over the far-east corner of their village.

There was only one living person who could control sand so well, and that was the Kazekage, Gaara. And he was at the Hyuuga compound which was located at the far-east corner of their village.

The radio transmitter brought by Shikamaru produced a static sound. He went to pick it up, and adjusted the volume so the whole room would be able to hear it.

"Shikamaru-kun?" The person on the other line was Sai. "There is a situation on the Point 74 East of village."

"What is the situation?" Shikamaru was almost afraid to ask, because he was mentally putting two and two together and saw in his mind a picture he so did not want to see.

"Naruto-sama kidnapped Hyuuga Hinata and Gaara-sama is fending the Hyuugas off. I have a bad feeling a civil war might ignite in the village. Please bring all the ninja you could find." With that, the call ended.

The boys snapped their heads back to Inuzuka Kiba who had a hand in his mouth.

"I shall use this power well," Kiba concluded. Akamaru barked in agreement.

* * *

The group of troublesome teenage ninja misfits reached their destination in a record of time to find in their wake that yes, it appeared like a civil war was brewing. The Hyuugas were on one side, face scrunched with distaste and their blood line limits activated. On the other side, the Sand ninjas stared back with equal distaste.

This was not a civil war. It was more like a recreation of Konoha vs Sand Incident that happened years back. The air around them was heavy with tension. And tt was then and there that Chouji had a brilliant idea.

"Flowers," he said suddenly.

"I'm sorry?" Shino cocked his head at one side.

"Flowers," Chouji said, eyeing thoughtfully at the bundles of flowers Ino forced the Kiba and Shino to buy this morning.

Kiba's face was creased, clueless at what Chouji was trying to point out. Did he want to give each one of the ninjas flowers so they could throw it at each other as weapons of mass destruction? At the thought of flowers wildly strewn all over the place, Kiba caught up with what Chouji was trying to say. It appeared that Shino also understood what he wanted to do.

"We can sell them at 10 ryou each," Chouji added. Sensing an amazing kick back, the Kiba and Shino split about and went on with Chouji's plan. "You guys go ahead," he said to Shikamaru and rest, "we'll handle the things here."

With that, the rest of the group trudged to the center where they found Sai, anxious at the tense air about, the Kazekage of the Sand, Gaara glaring his finest at the Hyuuga Clan Leader, Hyuuga Hiashi, who was glaring back. Their bodyguards had no intention of hiding their disdain as well.

"This is beneath you Kazekage-sama," Hiashi said acidly. "Bring this wall down immediately."

"I don't take orders from anyone," Gaara replied darkly, hands refusing to break the seal they make.

"This is an atrocity to my clan. Bring your wall down." Hiashi was known as a man of patience, and would have played this little game with much more refinement, but his daughter was on the other side.

"Surely Gaara-sama is a levelheaded man. Could we not talk about this?" Sai tried desperately to calm the situation.

"No." was Gaara's terse reply. His defiance was firm.

Beside him, Temari, fan at hand and itching to use her weapon, offered to the Hyuuga leader a half-meant smile. "Our Kage is not known to be a good listener, Hyuuga-sama."

It was Ko who countered her, stance ready to perform the Gentle Fist. "The Hyuuga's will not hesitate to fight your insolence."

"Then get ready to rumble," Kankurou voiced out, puppets laid out for battle, "because we won't be leaving here anytime soon." His fellow sand ninjas cried in harmony. The Hyuugas looked fit to murder.

Shikamaru and Neji chose this moment to enter the scene.

"Slow down, people," Shikamaru directed his statement to everyone in presence then turn to Gaara. "Honestly, Gaara, a wall?" He eyed guardedly at said wall.

"They needed privacy," Gaara answered as a matter of fact tone.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes heavenward and then looked at Temari. "And what exactly are you doing here?"

"I'm a very supportive sister," was Temari reply. "You?"

"I'm a very supportive friend," said Shikamaru.

"Neji," Hyuuga Hiashi acknowledged his nephew with a stern scowl. "Is it true that the Hokage has a part in this?"

Neji nodded. "Hiashi-sama, please allow me to explain the situation to you."

Meanwhile, Sai was thankful that half of previously high-strung assemblies of Hyuugas and Sand-nins have calmed down; although he did turn a quizzical eye at the flowers handed out by Chouji, Shino, Kiba and Akamaru. He offered his thanks to Lee and Sasuke who were both previously preoccupied with talking to a few Konoha ninjas called forth to handle the situation.

"No need!" said Lee, rather enthusiastically. "The Rokudaime's Assembled Men of Excellence and Neutrality are ready to serve anytime!" He gave a thumbs-up sign.

Sai gave a shaky laugh. "I see. Your group's name is pretty long, ne? How about I call you Team RAMEN instead?"

Sasuke grimaced at the ingenuity of the advisor. On the other hand, Lee screamed of youthfulness and passion. "The Sixth will approve of that!"

"Approve of what?" came for a female fourth voice. They looked up to see Tenten.

"Tenten, please talk logic to your former teammate and respected Hokage advisor that the boys are not Team RAMEN." There was a dark and ominous expression on the Uchiha that would have scared another person if not trained to deal with brooding and anti-social geniuses.

Tenten turned to Lee. "I think Team RAMEN is cool," she said, much to Sasuke's annoyance. "What does it mean?"

Lee was about to reply when he suddenly stopped and his eyes widened. The three followed his gaze. Standing at least twelve feet away from them was Sakura who just came out of her hospital duties to ensure the safety of her idiot-teammate-turned-Hokage. But upon seeing Lee _with_ Sasuke, she turned and brave feet and skipped away from the almost battlefield.

Lee gave a strangled cry.

"What did you do?" Tenten asked, interested all of the sudden.

Sensing that Lee was beyond the capacity to answer, Sasuke said, "I turned gay and kissed him in front of Sakura." Grabbing the dejected young Green Beast of Konoha, Sasuke sprinted after Sakura, because he thought she needed an explanation.

Tenten and Sai gazes followed their retreating figures.

"What are you two looking at?" Shikamaru asked, having finished with his spat with the sand ninja group.

"Early morning drama series," uttered Sai warmly. Shikamaru eyed warily at him but said nothing.

"Is kissing Sasuke one of your Team RAMEN fraternity initiation thingy, or something?" inquired Tenten all of the sudden.

Shikamaru considered his words for the moment, before answering, "Something. Don't dwell on it."

"Don't dwell on what?" It was Neji's turn to ask, having finished with his own spat with his clan.

At his arrival, Tenten turned heel and exited promptly. Sai raised his eyebrows. Shikamaru smirked. Neji scowled.

"What did you do?" asked Shikamaru.

"What makes you think it's my fault?" There was a noticeable amount of exasperation and denial in Neji's statement.

"It's always the men's fault," Shikamaru pointed out, and Sai nodded at his reasoning. "So, what did you do?"

"Nothing. I was born with wealth and privilege," was Neji's plain response.

"Then do something about it." There was something in the way the strategist voiced the words out that snapped the shackles of doubt in Neji's mind. With a curt bow, he was gone with the wind, leaving a fluttering leaves in his spot.

"What are you guys looking at?" Ino asked, wondering why the two boys were looking at the pile of leaves before them intently.

"Early morning drama series," Sai repeated. He could never tire of saying that.

"Volume two," Shikamaru added. There was a smug exchange between the two and Ino shook her head. She could never figure out boys.

"So Team RAMEN?" Shikamaru quirk an eyebrow, somehow feeling that the name was connected to his hastily formed team.

Sai smiled enigmatically. "Team RAMEN aka Rokudaime's Assembled Men of Excellence and Neutrality."

* * *

"What are you doing? Let me go!" Tenten half-hissed half-whispered as Neji magically caught up with her and unceremoniously dragged her across town. They caught the attention of many on-lookers and pedestrians standing by, but nobody interrupted their little dispute. Seeing the deadly glint on Tenten's eyes and the slight frown marring Neji's features, they deemed it wise to ignore the two and proceed with their own activities.

After all, curiosity killed the cat. Who's the cat? No one knew. But that's another issue.

"I said let me go!" Tenten finally managed to break free of his iron grip. Or did he loosen it on purpose? She didn't know, and as of the moment, she didn't care. She was just tired. "I'm going home," was her final say, dropping her shoulders and turning on her heels. She barely had her third step before she felt a hand gripped her forearm, whirled her about and tugged her towards the opposite direction of her home.

"Neji! Where are you taking me?" she fumed, beginning to get angry. This man had always been an impossibility to deal with, and she was starting to get irritated with his attitude.

Neji refused to look back, but he answered her nonetheless. "I am taking you to that dreadful underground barbeque store that sells those repulsive grilled black square objects on sticks, and I am going to buy the both of us their_ goods _until we can no longer eat."

It took a moment for Tenten to realize that this was Neji's attempt to take her on a date – a make-up date – to settle their little misunderstanding. And he didn't even bother to ask her. She rolled her eyes heavenwards.

"You don't even like Betamax," Tenten reasoned, mentioning the name of those repulsive grilled black square objects on sticks; anger slowly ebbing through his novel ideas.

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her – really looked at her, not through her – those arresting translucent eyes evoking long hidden emotions. But before she could determine them, he shrugged ever so nonchalantly.

"I like the girl who eats the Betamax."

Carefully, casually, Tenten chuckled in a way that has always calmed and reassured him. Intertwining her fingers with his, she said, "That's a good line, Hyuuga."

"Thought so myself," he replied, a small smile forming his lips.

And that was how their fight ended.

* * *

"Stop following me!" Sakura screamed back at the two figures determined to run her stamina down. Tried as she might she could not lose them. She sighed inwardly. It was hard running away from ninjas of belonging to the same village. They were nearing the heart of the forest, already a good distance away from the village.

"Then stop running away!" Sasuke screamed back, Lee still in tow.

Sakura felt too overwrought to deal with Sasuke. She sighed out loud this time, stopping on her tracks. She felt somewhat relieved that the two followed her suit. At least they had the common decency to stay a careful distance away from her. "Fine," she snarled, turning around to the two dark-haired dark-eyed loves of her life. She first focused her assault on Sasuke.

"I like you," she confessed to Sasuke. Lee was taken back by what she said; he never bothered to hide his disappointment. "I like you a lot," she reiterated, "and you kissed my boyfriend. With tongue. What were you thinking?"

Sasuke took a deep breath, and a long one at that. "I'm sorry," he finally said, and continued with the lamest excuse of the century, "I was drunk, and I didn't know what I was doing."

Sakura looked mildly impress. In fact, she looked murderous. "Well are you done?"

"No," he replied quickly. "I'm a piece of pie." Sakura and Lee snapped their attention back on him, taken by surprise at his statement. He was grateful he captured their attention. Remembering their earlier discussion, Sasuke pressed on his topic. "I am a piece of the most sumptuous, delectable, irresistible chocolate cream pie that had ever graced this world. And I have fallen to the ground."

Recognizing where his little speech was going, Lee stared back at Sasuke, stars in his eyes.

"I'm already covered with germs, Sakura. You need another piece." He put an arm around Lee and dragged him to a standing position. "And this guy is in love with you." The awkwardness and stillness of the setting unsettled the young Uchiha. With so much a smile, he disappeared with a poof leaving the two love birds alone.

They did not know how much time had passed with them standing before each other, eyes locked. With careful deliberation, Sakura tapped on the tree branch and leaped to Lee's side of the tree.

"You like him." It wasn't a question. It was more of an accusation.

"Yes."

It was a great effort for Lee not to cry, not to displace his anger on a non-suspecting tree branch; a great effort to be cheerful while his heart felt like Tenten was stabbing it to pieces. "Shouldn't we be going back?" he forced his teeth to clench, an effort to smile, resisting the urge to grumble the words back at her.

Touching the corner of his face, she bade him to look at her. "I like Sasuke. I will always like Sasuke." Tracing the side of his face with an index finger, Sakura smiled warmly, gently. "But I love you."

Lee stared back at her, unable to believe what he just heard. "You what?"

"I love you." The words sounded raw and deep, as if coming from somewhere deep inside of her. She cocked her head on one side and shrugged a shoulder while saying the three wonderful words he had wanted to hear from her. "Well?"

Sakura thought her well-deserved confession could at least earned her a boyish laugh from Lee, complete with him dragging her into his arms and twirling her around happily. And then, they would share their passionate and youthful kiss.

It never occurred to her that the love of her life would stiffen, would stepped away from her, arms fisted at the side, and would say, "You can punch me now."

Sakura blink rapidly. "What?"

Lee closed his eyes, readying himself for the blow. "I know this is a dream where Sakura-chan would say she love me then turn into marionette from another dimension and ask for a fight. Since I do not make it a habit to hit girls, I would ask the marionette to punch me, and I would wake up from my dream. Please punch me now."

Sakura could not believe the incredulousness, the utter absurdity of the situation she was in. She had a compulsion to punch him, and here he was asking for it. Channeling all her chakra in her left fist, she landed a fierce punch square on Lee's face. He flew a good kilometer away from her, destroying branches and random forestry in the process.

When she went to his side, this time with fury in her eyes, he was gaping at his swollen face.

"Sakura-san?" He gasped at her towering form before him. "You punched me?"

"Yes, you idiot, and I will be punching you more for making a mockery out of—"

But her death threats were seemingly cut off by the time his lips sealed hers. Seared hers. And there and then, through the youthful exchange of passionate kisses, Sakura thought punching Lee would come later – much, _much_ later.

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**A/N:** I hope you enjoyed. ^_^ Next stop, NaruHina-ness.


	15. The End

**Disclaimer: **I do not own NARUTO. I do not take part of the creation, production and distribution of the said anime. The characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi. This fic is written for pure enjoyment and is highly fictional. If such occurrences happen to the original plot, then it is a case of pure coincidence.

**A/N: **Last chapter. All the love in the world for my beloved readers. ^_^ Please continue to support Naruto~! It's long, sometimes fruitless and will probably continue until we eventually have kids but you gotta admit, it made you laugh, cry and relate to the wonderful characters at one point in your life.

Til the next fic! ^_^

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**Chapter XV: The End**

Uzumaki Naruto was a man of compulsions.

He was a man renowned to do things out of pure instinct; never really giving one's thought a chance to be pondered before jumping to execute his act. One of his compulsions was to run across town, enter the Hyuuga compound unannounced, and carefully modulate in front of Hyuuga Hiashi that he needed to _borrow_ his daughter for a bit.

Said man stared at him incredulously, before he declined the Hokage's request.

Uzumaki Naruto was a man of tenacity.

He was a man renowned to be firm about his decisions. Once he wanted something, he was going to do everything in his power to attain it. So when he warned that he would kidnap Hinata if that was what it took to get to talk to her alone, he did it. He could recall Hiashi shouting of transgression and profligacy, which he ignored all together.

He wasn't that surprised when several Hyuugas attempted to stop his hasty retreat. He managed to scare off half of them; promises of death, doom and destruction escaping his lips, as well as missions of odd sorts. A handful of Hyuugas remained steadfast, more loyal to their clan leader than they were to their village leader. Naruto was tempted to use Rasengan on them, but he had his hands full of Hinata.

Uzumaki Naruto was a man of good interpersonal relations.

As he neared the exit of the compound, his pursuers caught up and formed a barricade to block his exit. Naruto could never be more thankful to his lucky stars that Gaara appeared out of nowhere and aided him with his notorious Sand Technique. They escaped the compound unscathed, but the Hyuugas were able to corner them as they reached the forest.

An army of Sand shinobis arrived to their cause; and being the honorary best friend that he was Gaara used to technique to form a giant sand wall so he and Hinata could have his much sought after privacy.

Uzumaki Naruto was a man of words.

He wasn't blessed with an extensive amount of vocabulary, nor was he wise to the ways of poetry and literature, but he had always got something to say at every possible situation. And he always got the first things to say.

So it was a clear and utter surprise for Naruto that he, in all his confidence and reliance to his voice, could not, for the love of God, find the words to start a conversation with this pearly-eyed, dark haired girl who happened to have feelings for him.

That was the problem actually: _she loved him _– for a very long time at that. It's not the typical _love_, like for a brother, or for a friend, or for a comrade. It was the love-love, much stronger than crush but a little lesser than exaltation.

He was happy, of course, that someone like Hinata has feelings for someone like him. He wanted to scream to the heavens for it. It left a giddy, warm sensation over his midsection. It left him a lasting image of Super Bushy Brow-sensei's Springtime of Youth, complete with waterfalls, fields of flowers, colorful butterflies, endless blue skies, and all those jazz.

_She loved him._

Something about it felt wonderful and right.

He had to admit though; at first he thought she was weird. Who wouldn't? He was exposed to women who fawn over cool guys and walk over his dreams. They screamed, giggled, and squealed over a smirk of the school's heartthrobs, like Sasuke and Neji. They cared more about how to keep their long hair shiny, how to look striking for their crushes, how to do girly stuffs when girly stuffs were never needed at all.

Hinata was… different. She was that shy wall flower who stood at the farthest corner of the room, playing childishly with her fingers. She would blush a deep color of crimson every time he were to pass by, gasp when he called her name, and faint when he closes the distance between them.

Kiba always chided her reactions. Shino would stay silent, but he had that knowing look on his face. Akamaru seemed to know about something to, but Naruto did not know dog language and Kiba never bothered to translate.

He frowned then, unsure what she liked about him. Sure, he was kind, cheerful, and was willing to sacrifice everything for his friends. But he was also the smart-mouthed Kyuubi-kid who had nothing more important to do than play pranks, the dumb-dead last from their Academy years, the impulsive brat who was lucky enough to be crowned as the Sixth Hokage. No matter how much he looked into it, his cons overweight his pros.

Perhaps she did love him all those time and he was just too dense to figure it out.

All of these reflections were making him testy. He expected a melee of epic proportions on the other side of the wall, as the Hyuugas and the Sand-nins crash. And while the local villagers were anticipating the wise intervention of their Kage, here he was on the brink of breaking his skull open, trying to find the words to initiate a conversation with her.

The uncomfortable silence stretched longer and Hinata felt compelled to break it. "Ummm…" she said softly, "Is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Naruto made an acknowledging sound in his throat, "I wanted to talk to you," he announced, his intentions still vague.

Her pearlescent eyes glowed with inquisitive; Naruto was awestruck by the quality of their color. It reminded him of the pale moon, full in its glory. "About what?" she asked, breaking him off his reverie.

Once again, Naruto marveled how this girl could rob him off his words without punching him outright, and scatter his wits effectively. Proceeding with limited caution had always been his battle plan, much to Shikamaru's chagrin. Clearing his throat, he went on with his tactic. "Remember that day you came to my office and ask how to profess your feelings to the guy that you love?"

A rosy glow emerged from her pale cheeks, and Hinata carefully looked down on the ground. "Yes…" she almost stammered the word, unsure where this conversation was heading.

"Well, I was hoping you could help me with my love problem as well." He was rewarded by a startled expression on her face. Seeing the confusion etched there, he further elaborated his answer, "It's about a girl who has been in love with me for a long time. I don't know why she's in love with me. I mean, I'm awesome and all, but I'm not the most likable guy for most of the female population. I can't just ask her about it, 'cause I'm afraid she'll run away. So I was wondering…" His blue eyes settled over hers, daring her to look away. "What could she possibly like in a guy like me?"

Hinata looked mildly uneasy, but Naruto was glad she did not tear her gaze away from his. "What… What kind of person is she?"

"Oh, the usual: dark, silent, and weird." He shrugged nonchalantly, remembering that it was the same description he used on her before his fight with Neji. Sliding an eye over her frame, he carefully added, "And cute."

"Cute?"

"Very cute."

Whether or not she could remember that these were his exact words for her, Naruto could not tell. Naruto saw her swallow a lump in her throat, and politely looked away again. He was afraid she was going to let him hanging to her silence.

Softly, not on normal decibels standards but enough for him to hear, she answered him, "It's your smile."

"My smile?" he asked one golden eyebrow quirked.

She closed her eyes, and let out a deep breath. "You have a wonderful smile. You may not notice it but it affects people around you… It makes them believe in you. It makes them trust you. And ultimately…" She let her voice break off, before continuing, her face breaking into a wonderful smile of her own. "It makes them believe in themselves."

He was amazed on the impact of this person's words to his character. Not just her words, her eyes, her voice, her face, and her sincerity as well. He never really thought much of himself, but this person saw him as though he was manna coming down from heaven.

"My smile, huh?"

She nodded at him. "Are we done? I'm concerned about my father…" She gazed fondly at the sand wall, willing for it to part so she could get a view of the other side. She was really concerned about her father, and her clansmen.

"Hinata," called Naruto, a thoughtful expression crossing his features. "There's another thing I wanted to say to you." She inclined her head at one side, waiting for him to continue. "I know the guy you love."

She might as well have been the proverbial deer who was caught at the end of kunai. Her face lost its color, and cold sweat broke from her brows. "T-the guy…"

"I solicited the help of some friends." A powerful shoulder moved to shrug, as Naruto waited for her reaction. "Your problem had left me confused so I devised a way in order to meet this fellow."

It was then that Hinata turned away from him, and was preoccupied by staring anything but him. A grin kicking on the corners of his mouth, he made it impossible for her to deny he was there by jumping in front of her at every possible opportunity. He was teasing her, and found he enjoyed the odd reddish tinge adorning her cheeks. "They had a rough time, you know. It was hard to tract the guy down when you interact with so many people, Hinata. I was almost afraid that he's part of my carefully assembled team. And then, just this morning, they gave me the result of their search. They found the ninety-nine point nine percent match to the person who captured your affections."

"Who…"

"We both know who that person is, Hinata," he replied plainly, without mockery or derision. Closing the distance between the two of them, he tentatively placed one hand on her arm, the other touching her cheek, chuckling when she finally met his gaze. "I think you're amazing," he said, his blue eyes sparkling with sincerity, "and I think anyone would be lucky to have you."

"I also think that you should have more confidence," he murmured, bringing both of her hands to his lips, "because if there is a ninety-nine percent chance that that guy is me, I'd probably say I love you too."

Hinata was at lost for words.

Here was the person she had been pinning for all her life. The person who had made her smile in times when she wanted to quit with herself, the person who inspired her to be better, the person she would offer her life in a heartbeat.

At the back of her mind, she could hear the Kazekage's words, _True love is fearless._

And fearlessly, she sealed her lips with his.

It was a light peck, her lips settled over his hesitantly – very different from the first kiss he sincerely wished he did not share with Sasuke. That was accidental, open-mouthed, and oh so gross it sent shivers down his spine.

This one was sweet, pure, and so utterly Hinata. He could smell her sweet-scented cologne. He could feel her warm breath puffing lightly over his cheeks. He could not help but capture her bottom lip, which earned him a startled cry, and deepened the kiss. His hands placed hers over his shoulders, and them bade them capture her face, angling her head as he had done so, as he'd quest for more.

There were only two things that were in his mind at that moment, first was yep, reading that Pervy Sage's 'romance' novels did pay off; and the second was kissing Hinata was the best thing that ever happened since ramen.

His heart was beating so loudly, he wondered why it didn't break out of his ribs already.

When it ended, they were both red-stained faces and panty breaths. Both also found it slightly impossible to look anywhere but each others eyes.

It was Naruto who first spoke, gathering some semblance of reality with his razor-sharp with, "I suppose that's a yes." He was grinning – he could feel it – like an idiot, he guessed.

Hinata produced a silent laugh; it was music in his ears. "It's always been you," she admitted, smiling, hand grazing tenderly over his scratched cheeks, "all my life only you."

She watched his face break into that wonderful smile that turned her insides to jelly, and made her heart skipped two times faster. He was about to kiss her again, when realization of the chaos behind the wall dawned to the both of them. "We need to get back," he said half-meant.

"We should," she agreed, a fascinating shade of pink decorating her face.

With three knocks and a kick, the sand wall before them ebbed and disappeared to the ground. By the time it was gone, the assembled relatives, friends and ninjas stopped their activities and focused their attention on the two.

"We're together," Naruto announced, further emphasizing his point by flinging his free arm over Hinata's shoulder and pulling her into a hug.

Hinata confirmed by blushing her to the roots of her hair.

Someone, who remarkably sounded like Chouji, counted three backwards and the ninjas that had gathered before them threw the flowers they had been holding, like some carefully rehearsed ritual for a grand wedding when the bride and groom had been presented to the public. They rejoiced, shouting their appreciation for Konoha's new couple.

Elsewhere, he could hear Sasuke's sarcastic _dobe_, Sakura's supportive cheer, Sai's random banter on love, Lee exclamation of the burning power of youth, Tenten's chuckle, Neji's soft _Hn_, Shikamaru's _troublesome _drawl, Chouji's proud laugh, Ino's cry, Kiba's growl of laughter, Akamaru's bark for success, and Shino's silence (why, yes, Naruto's great like that).

And then he saw his future father-in-law's face.

By that thundercloud look on Hyuuga Hiashi's face, Naruto had a lot of explaining to do. But from the warmth radiating from the hand that held his, he had a feeling it was going to be worth it.

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**A/N: **Review?


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